Story Untold
by AGoldenCharm
Summary: "Behind the scenes", story never told by Tina Cohen-Chang and Mike Chang.
1. Chapter 1

Mike stared at the sign-up sheet for New Directions, the glee club that Mr. Schuester was obsessed with starting. There were only five names on it so far: Rachel Berry, Mercedes Jones, Kurt Hummel, Artie Abrams, and Tina Cohen-Chang. Tina. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, his hands itching to sign his name right under hers. He didn't even know if he could sing. And the only one who had ever seen him dance was his full-length mirror in his bedroom.

"Mike, you coming? We've got practice in five minutes."

Puck's voice snapped him back to reality. Reality, where following his instinctive curiosity about the only other asian in the school was really out of the question. Reality, where being a creep was _really_ out of the question.

It had all started in math class, where they had been given assigned seats, and he had found it amusingly ironic that he and the only other asian in the school had landed seats next to each other in math class, of all classes. She had kept her eyes trained to her notebook the entire hour, and he didn't think too much of her at first but he had happened to turn toward her at the same moment that she decided to lick her lips and all of a sudden he couldn't stop turning to look at her. He kept sneaking peeks at the way she took notes, the way she tapped her pencil against her cheek, and the way she heaved soft, heavy sighs. And when the bell had rung to signal the end of class, he had offered her a smile and he was rewarded with a nervous half-smile that made him stop in his tracks. The way her mouth had curled upward just a fraction of an angle and her dimple appeared out of nowhere had caused him to turn away as quickly as possible and allow his eyes to widen because he knew that's the direction they were heading toward. She had left already and he was left sitting there, mouth half-open, eyes glazing over.

All he knew was that she was insanely sweet. That she offered to let him borrow her pencil on a test day because he had foolishly left his pencil case at home. That she offered him gum whenever she had it and each time, she would take his wrapper, fold it up over her own, and get up to toss it away. That she congratulated him when he had received 100% on their last exam and he had looked over and she had gotten the exact same score, the smart little asian that she was. That the more he really _noticed _her, the more he started to feel like he was losing control.

As each day passed by, he greeted her when she came into class and offered her a quick goodbye when they left, and each time, he would receive that same nervous half-smile and it made him want to see it again and again and _again_ for more than just that fleeting second. He picked up on her little habits, like the way she scratched the side of her head and tousled her own hair in the process and the way she squinted at the board in frustration over a problem. God, he was acting like such a creep but all he could do was turn his attention back to her again and again.

What was it about her? She wasn't someone that he would have expected to be so interested about, what with her introverted demeanor and goth style. But judgments aside, all he knew was that he looked forward to each day when he could see that tiny smile during math class.

...

One day, he plucked up the courage to hold out his hand five minutes before the bell rung for math to begin.

"I'm Mike. Mike Chang," he smiled warmly. His voice oozed confidence but his mind was racing with all the different possibilities of answers that could have followed.

She held his gaze for a few seconds before opening her mouth, "I kn-know. T-tina Cohen-Chang."

"You know?" Mike's eyes grew, astonished. He turned his chair to face her a little more. She knew him? How?

"Of c-course. Our par- I m-mean... You're on the football team, everyone kn-knows you."

Mike furrowed his brow, "What was that?"

"N-nothing."

_Par-?_

...

"Mom, do you know the Cohen-Changs?" Mike piped up at dinner that night. He picked at his rice and steamed vegetables, unable to eat anything until the little battle inside his head had been completely resolved.

His mom glanced at him for a nanosecond before immediately looking back down at her food, "You could say that."

"What? Really?" He dropped his fork and gaped at his mom.

"Your father and her father don't get along. Don't mention this to him, Mike. It will upset him."

"Why don't they get along?" Mike was beginning to get a little alarmed.

"It's a business feud, obviously. Mr. Cohen-Chang bought off part of your father's business and chopped it up and sold it for its parts. It made your father very angry."

"That's so stupid," Mike spluttered, the scene before him crashing down around him. "Why do they have to stay mad at each other for this one little thing? It doesn't give me the chance to-"

"Chance to what, Mike?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, shoveling rice into his mouth to avoid having to say anything. Their families _knew_ each other. What the _hell_?

...

Mike was finding it very difficult to focus on derivatives when Tina's shampoo was smelling as strong as ever. Strawberries and coconut. Strawberries and coconut and each day, each individual scent wafted into his nose as if they were teasing him. It had taken him a while to pick out the scents, but after a couple of days, it had become more and more prominent. God, he was smelling her _hair_. He was almost ashamed with how terribly weird he was being.

He glanced over at her and was surprised to find her eyes rimmed with an unmistakable redness. He kept his gaze on her a little longer than usual this time, making out the tiny trails of mascara that rested underneath her lower eyelashes. She had been crying. Concerned, he glanced inside his backpack and plunged his hand into it. He discreetly reached for a scrap piece of paper while keeping his eyes fixed on the teacher and feigning interest in today's lesson. He quickly scrawled something on the paper and then slowly scooted it underneath Tina's notebook. She blinked, surprised, and picked it up. He held his breath, unwilling to breathe easy again until he received some sort of reaction.

...

Tina had no idea what to expect when she unfolded the scrap of paper that Mike Chang- Mike Chang, _the football player_- had just handed to her. What the _hell?_ Her eyes dart across the sheet and her breath catches a little in surprise.

"You okay? Let me know if you want to talk." At the bottom of the paper was seven numbers. His phone number.

His phone number. With a tiny smiley face next to it. She glanced at him. He beamed in a way that showed that he was so unbelievably proud of himself and that could only make her laugh uncontrollably behind her textbook. She nodded and motioned to her cellphone, where she installed his number. He gave her a thumbs-up.

...

Tina stared at the scrap piece of paper that lay in her hand, every crease and word memorized to the last detail. She held her phone in the other. Taking a deep breath, she shot him a text message.

Tina: very shocked today  
Mike: why?  
Tina: wouldn't have thought you'd give me your number  
Mike: i wanted to talk to you  
Tina: you're not invited to this pity party, just saying  
Mike: didn't expect to be. :) just wanted to see if things were okay  
Tina: it's nothing. just family issues  
Mike: i found out the other day  
Tina: about what?  
Mike: what you almost let slip the other day  
Tina: oh... i was surprised you didn't know already. you know they'd kick our asses if they knew we were even texting each other  
Mike: i don't care :)

Tina giggled, only to be given a very stern glare from her chemistry teacher.

Tina: don't you worry about me. hey, i heard kurt joined the football team, how's it going?  
Mike: he's doing good. us, not so much. coach is making us do the single ladies dance with him... we're meeting in the choir room after class today

Tina's jaw dropped. _Football guys_ dancing to _Single Ladies_. In glee's choir room. This was priceless.

...

Tina: meet you in the choir room, then :)

Satisfied, Mike pocketed his cell phone. He'd dance to freaking _Barney_ if it meant another reason to see Tina that day.

...

"Good. Good work today," Mr. Schuester grinned, "Glad to see that you guys are finally loosening up. We'll work on it tomorrow before your big game and see how it goes from there."

"All right, hit the showers," Coach barked, "Puckerman-in my office." When Puck gave him a sour look, Coach rolled his eyes, "It's what you get for mouthing off. Office. _Now_."

Mike packed up his football bag and shed his jersey, turning to steal a glance at Tina, who was giggling at something that Artie had just said. He narrowed his eyes, wondering what on earth Artie Abrams could possibly have said that earned him that breathy giggle that escaped Tina's mouth. He had first discovered her laugh in math class when the teacher made an insanely lame joke about integrals and half the class rolled their eyes and he watched as Tina tried to stifle a giggle. In the end, her laughter won out and she was reduced to a fit of giggles and he did his best not to watch her as the sound of her laughter danced in his ears. For a split second, she looked up, and they shared a look for a fraction of a second before she turned back to her friends in the glee club.

He reached for his phone, a wash of determination flooding over him. A sense of purpose that controlled him.

Mike: maybe i can make this dancing thing permanent...  
Tina: you mean join glee? seriously?  
Mike: why not?  
Tina: well... i just thought the guys on your team might not take it so lightly  
Mike: i guess... we'll see... only time will tell :)

...

They texted all the time now. Thank god for unlimited texting, Tina thought to herself. They spent nights underneath their covers, connected by their cell phones long into the night. They talked about silly things, about how their days went, about the TV shows they both enjoyed watching, about how they were feeling. They would argue about whether green or orange looked worse on their math teacher. They talked. Non-stop. And all Tina could think about was the clever little witticisms that never failed to come from him and the thoughtful things he said like the fact that he really liked the dress she was wearing that day. Tina would sit on her bed with her legs folded neatly underneath her blankets and wonder. Wonder what was really going on between her and Mike Chang.

...

Mike was sitting on a bench in the locker room with Puck and Matt, a towel draped over his exposed neck. He hesitated, then started, "What did you guys think of the whole _Single Ladies_ thing today?"

Puck scoffed, "I thought it was stupid. I can't believe Finn even wants to be a part of that idiotic group. Probably just to be around Quinn and to fawn over that Rachel girl."

Mike picked his words carefully, "I saw you and Santana flirting hardcore, though." That was risky territory. He knew Puck and Santana were so on and off that saying they were going out was really just a 50/50 chance on any given day.

Puck grinned mischievously, "Yeah... gotta admit, having hot girls in there helped."

"Maybe we should join to get some action," Mike did his best to sound like the guy's guy that he knew Puck wanted.

Matt shrugged, "Sounds good to me. I'm kinda looking for a date with Brittany, anyway. I've been dropping hints all week, but you know Brit. Can't take a hint if it hit her across the forehead with a sign taped to its back."

"Right... so maybe this is our chance," Mike offered. _It's _my_ chance,_ he thought to himself, quite selfishly at that.

Puck glared at him for a while, "Why so eager, Chang? Got your eye on a girl?"

"Nah," Mike shrugged. He began panicking for a cover story, "Parents want me to do it and I really don't want to do this by myself. What do you guys say?"

Puck and Matt exchanged skeptial looks, but nodded slowly. "Let's do it," Puck conceded.

...

"Guys, let's give a big glee welcome to our three new members, fresh off their big win on Friday night: Noah Puckerman, Matt Rutherford, and Mike Chang."

At first, Tina felt herself narrowing her eyes. _Seriously_? A bunch of jocks who had spent their past couple of months teasing them? Then, her eyes shifted to the last person Mr. Schue had mentioned and she could feel her jaw hit the floor. She stared at Mike, who flashed her a smile that oozed of "told you so". She couldn't help but grin as she cheered with the rest of the club.

...

Mike: told you i'd join :)  
Tina: you technically never said you would!  
Mike: i implied it!  
Tina: that doesn't count :)  
Mike: will you run the single ladies dance with me one more time today?  
Tina: choir room right after class, don't be late :)

...

Mike got there first. He felt his hands clamming up as he took a seat in one of the chairs that seemed too small for his long body. He fiddled with his phone in anticipation. He was going to be alone with Tina, and though he didn't expect anything to really happen, anxiety still gripped him in a way that he had never experienced before. Tina was really getting to him. Like _really _getting to him. Everything from her flirty texts to her real, _real_ laugh that practically haunted him during class.

"Hey."

He jumped at the sound of her voice and stood up immediately, "H-hi."

"I th-thought I was the one with the st-stutter," Tina teased, reaching out for his hand to help him up, "Antsy today?"

"Maybe a little," he chuckled, standing up, feeling her warm hand in his and forgetting to let go until she caught his gaze. He dropped her hand gently and blinked rapidly. Clearing his throat, he turned on the boombox that was sitting on the piano, "Come on, I need your help so I can nail this part."

Tina stood next to him and their heads bobbed together with the intro instrumental part. As Beyonce's voice echoed through the choir room, they ran through the dance part right on tempo, their rhythms matching perfectly. Mike kept one eye on Tina's dancing figure. She moved so fluidly, so _rhythmically_. As his pulse picked up and the number ended, they stood facing each other, breathless and exuberant.

"I'd s-say you're pretty d-decent, Mr. Chang."

"Well I'd say you're pretty incredible. You are quite the dancer."

"Well, I've had p-practice on this one. Never th-thought I'd see you b-busting a move to Single Ladies, th-though. You're really g-good, Mike. Like... incredibly g-good."

"Really?" Mike beamed, feeling encouraged.

"Of c-course," Tina nodded eagerly, "You should p-perform more often."

"I never thought I'd be dancing anywhere further than ten feet away from my bedroom," Mike admitted, "I dance all the time in my room. Relieves stress, you know?"

Tina's eyes lit up, "Yeah, it does! Especially after a long day," she said excitedly, "and all you feel like doing is dancing to an 80s pop tune."

"Yeah," Mike smiled contently as they took a seat again. Wait a minute... His mind rewinded Tina's words. No sign of a stutter? Was it just sporadic? "Have you ever just wanted to lock yourself in your room and twirl in non-sensical circles until you were so dizzy that you'd just lie on the floor, sweaty and tired and gross but totally happy?" He flushed after the spew of words left his mouth, slightly embarrassed. God, she must have thought that he was crazy.

Tina, however, nodded fervently, "I know exactly what you mean! I used to do that when I was little," she admitted, "And my mom would have to check up on me to make sure I hadn't given myself a concussion."

Mike laughed appreciatively, "That would have been quite a sight. I would have liked to see that."

"Those are the type of moments that I'd really rather keep in my past."

Definitely no sign of even a stammer. He was intrigued but he knew better than to mention it, "One day, you'll show me your home videos and then nothing will be safe from me anymore," he grinned wickedly.

"Forget it," Tina folded her arms, "I'm never letting you into my family's stash of home videos."

"We'll see," he said cheerfully.

She hesitated, "You know that's never going to happen, right? You even coming near my family? They hate each other..."

Mike frowned, inching closer toward Tina's blushing face, "So?"

"I just- that's not fair. I spend hours talking to you each day. What if one day I want you to come over or something? Like a normal friend?"

Friend. Mike heard it. He sat back a little. The word left her mouth like a snake, slithering into his ears like an intruder. He had heard it and now there was no going back. _Friend. Friend. Friend. _He had entered the friend zone and he knew the road to the friend zone was a one-way street. There was no way in hell that she was going to change her opinion about him at this point. He managed a small smile, "We'll make do, Tina. Don't worry."

* * *

**A/N: Don't forget to review! It helps me a lot to hear back from you guys. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

They began texting during glee rehearsal in order to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Tina had a feeling that Mike had no interest in revealing their new friendship with his friends on the football team, and ever since their whole Single Ladies endeavor, he had been acting a little bit more aloof and she couldn't really figure out why. Maybe he thought that she was coming on too strong or that if their friendship grew any more, he'd be locked away in social prison. As the thoughts swirled in her mind and Mr. Schuester introduced a new woman to the glee club, one Tina had never seen before, Tina stared. Tina stared at the blond woman that stood before the glee club who _had_ to have been in her thirties already.

Tina: who the hell is this?  
Mike: i heard mr. schue talking about her before- april something. apparently she was in glee club when he was still in high school  
Tina: you're checking her out :)  
Mike: no!  
Tina: mike's got a crushhh!

...

Tina: i saw you tickling her in the hallways! don't lie, mike chang :)  
Mike: puck dared us to do it, i swear!  
Tina: oh so that's why you were all doing it, hm?  
Mike: it's part of puck's plan to get into her pants. he got matt and i to help him "break her down"  
Tina: doesn't look like he'll have to try very hard. look!

Mike glanced over at the other end of the room, where April and Puck were playing a very obvious game of footsie and April had her hand on Puck's leg. He and Tina exchanged knowing looks. As she turned away, however, his face morphed into a frown as he looked back at their texting history. If only she knew that he would have traded April Rhodes and ever girl in their entire freaking school to leave the friend zone forever...

...

That night, after Tina had showered, gotten into her pajamas and slid into bed, she heard her phone vibrate. She was getting used to hearing the three short vibrations, signaling a text from Mike. But this time, it vibrated continuously and kept going after three. She peered at the screen.

Incoming call from Mike Chang. _Incoming call?_

"Hello?" she answered, bewildered.

"Hey," his soft, somehow simultaneously familiar yet unfamiliar voice sounded over the phone.

"Why are you calling?" she smiled, folding her knees to her chest. It was nice to hear his voice. They didn't get a lot of that, what with their addiction to texting and their attempts at keeping their friendship on the down-low.

"I'm not allowed to call? Ouch, T. Way to hit me while I'm down."

Tina, shocked by the new nickname, took a moment to find her words, "What do you mean? Why are you down?" _T. _It was nice. Short, simple, and unique. No one had ever called her that before. No one had ever really been like Mike before, either, but hey.

"My dad... he spent the entire time at dinner today explaining how his business works. And get this, he _finally_ mentions your family for the first time today. All he could talk about was why he hated your dad. It took all my energy not to snap back at him."

"Really? How civilized of you," Tina rolled her eyes. She doubted that he really felt any urge to defend her. After all, it was his _family_. Family always came first.

"You know what I mean! I just wanted so badly to tell him to stop bashing on your family, on _you_, someone who happens to be very important to me."

Tina knew he couldn't see her smiling, but she managed a small, "Really?"

"Of course! I was so _bothered_ by everything he had said! It was just like strangling and I-"

"No," she interrupted, "I mean... I'm important to you?"

"_Very_ important," he corrected, and she could practically see him grinning his familiar smile, picture his face in her mind's eye.

...

Tina: you guys were incredible today :O  
Mike: i know, right?  
Tina: saw you bust those moves toward the end there, never seen so much energy outta you guys before  
Mike: uh... i gotta talk to you, T. i think the guys owe you girls a confession...

...

Tina: pop and lock? really, mike?  
Mike: what? i can!  
Tina: actually, to be honest, i kind of want to see that  
Mike: meet me in the choir room after school?  
Tina: deal

...

As the music coursed through Mike's veins and the beat thumped out of sync with his heartbeat, he performed his little number for Tina, who was sitting by herself on the piano bench, not saying a word. He tried his best to concentrate on the music, on the way his arms moved and the twists his legs made. He was just so _aware_ of her being there, her _watching_ him dance. The last few epic chords reverberated between his ears and he finished off his routine with a landing right in front of her and with a flourish of his arms.

"Damn," Tina said coyly, "You really can pop and lock"

"I speak the truth, Tina Cohen-Chang. You know me."

...

"Santana!"

Of course, Tina rolled her eyes.

"Wheels!"

What?

"Gay kid!"

"Asian!"

Alarmed, Tina stood up and hurried over to the other side of the piano.

"Other asian!"

Tina watched as Mike followed her footsteps. They shared an amused glance.

...

Tina: hey there other asian :)  
Mike: i can't believe you get to be asian and i'm just the second, not as attractive or talented version

Attractive or talented? Tina blushed, thankful that he couldn't see her. He thought she was attractive and talented?

Tina: haha no one said that!  
Mike: sue did :(  
Tina: aww poor you :(  
Mike: i need a hug :(

...

"Changster, I wanna see some of that pop and lock groove you're so famous for- you can go to town!"

The "minority group" cherred as Mike popped a move right then and there. With a smug grin, he winked at Tina.

"And you, Mercedes, I wanna see some Mariah hands."

"I can do that!" Mercedes grinned, clearly ecstatic over the R&B music choice.

"I think we g-g-got this one, Ms. Sylvester," Tina said over the cheering of the group.

Mike stopped while everyone began the song. The stutter. It was back. He hadn't heard it at all recently when they talked on the phone, which they had begun doing almost as often as they texted. Would it be too conceited to think that she never stuttered when she was around him? Or maybe he was just getting his hopes up...

...

As Tina vocalized the background part for Hate On Me while Mercedes rocked the solo, she noticed one person who was not immediately jumping up and down with the excitement and music. Mike was staring at her. She bit her lip before he turned away and jumped down to dance to the music along with everyone else. When he began to do his whole pop and lock deal, she watched. Entranced. He certainly had a way with dancing. The way he just _undulated_ in the air, hips turning and twisting in a way that almost seemed unnatural. It was unfathomable to her how someone so talented had never danced to perform before. But a lot of things about Mike Chang had been unfathomable recently. Starting from the moment he had slipped her his number back in math class weeks ago.

...

"Hey, wait up," Mike touched Tina on the shoulder. They were the last ones to leave the choir room and he had finally decided to speak up.

"What's up?" Tina smiled, stopping short.

"It's... about your stutter," Mike said slowly, "I haven't heard it in a while, and I was wondering if that was a good sign. Maybe it's going away?"

He saw her eyes get huge, as she, probably genuinely, began to stammer, "I-I, yeah, m-maybe it is."

Mike sighed, took her hand and pulled her toward him, "Tina," he said softly, "You can be honest with me, you know that, right?"

He looked down at her face, which showed nothing but a struggling expression. She said nothing at first. He watched as her eyes darted back and forth on his face without a single word escaping her lips. "I've been faking it," she mumbled finally, "Ever since I was in sixth grade, when I was supposed to make a speech. I pushed people away, and it's always just been easier for me to go with it. To keep saying that I have a stutter."

He exhaled slowly, looking down and noticing that her hand was still clamped tight onto his, "Tina, you should just be honest with people. If you spend your whole life pushing people away, you're going to end up regretting it. So much." Mike studied her face for a while, drinking in her warm brown eyes and soft pink lips.

"I know. I know, Mike. But it's like a lie that I couldn't stop, you know? It just kept on growing," her head dipped down as she looked at the floor with shame. "I don't even know what to do anymore. I can't just tell people."

"Hey, look at me," Mike said gently, pushing back the strands of hair that fell in front of her face, "This is fixable. You just have to tell the truth, okay? Everything will turn out okay."

She gave him a watery smile and nodded silently, tightening her grasp on his hand.

...

Tina: what's this i hear about your coach making you guys pick between football and glee?  
Mike: you heard right :/  
Tina: what? does this mean you won't be a part of glee anymore?  
Tina: mike? hello?  
Tina: mike?

...

Tina waited with the rest of the glee club by the piano, her breath caught in her throat and her eyes trained on the clock above the door. 3:30 and no one. This was it. Mike and the other guys had picked football. Picked the one thing that would keep them cool. Keep them far away from the losers in glee club. Tina rested her elbow on the piano, watching the door and feeling hopeless.

A movement by the door, and suddenly, she could see a flash of plaid. It had to be him. He was always _always _wearing plaid. Always wearing skinny jeans that she would steal glances of because boy could he rock skinny jeans. Sure enough, Mike, followed by Matt, stepped slowly and dramatically into the room. Brittany and Santana leapt forward to go hug them and it took all of Tina's energy not to follow suit. Instead, she caught his eye and she flashed him a quick thumbs up. He blinked his acknowledgement over Brittany's shoulder. Brittany was gushing over his return and Mike was smiling ear-to-ear. Tina's smile faded a little.

...

Mike: sit next to me during glee rehearsal today :)  
Tina: haha really? sure!

...

As Tina put her stuff away at her locker, she heard wheels behind her. Normally, she could assume it was Artie, but this time, she couldn't be sure, what with everybody clunking around the school with their stupid wheelchairs. As she struggled to wheel around, she noticed it was Artie, who had a sheepish smile on his face.

"Hi, Tina."

"H-hi. W-what's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd meet me after school outside the choir room."

"Sure," Tina smiled, "W-what for?"

"For... a date," Artie grinned, clearly pleased with himself.

"I-" Tina blinked, stunned, "S-sure." It was a bit of a surprise, sure, but she and Artie had always been kind of close. Mercedes and Kurt were always together, no one really seemed to hang out with Rachel, and Finn had his jock friends. It made sense, she concluded, that he'd ask her out. They had spent long hours together at the library, whispering behind their books. She wheeled him to class sometimes. She looked down at her hands, mind flashing from Artie's face in front of her to the texts that lay nestled in her cell phone. The texts that reminded her that Artie had just asked her out- sweet, adorable Artie, who had a heart bigger than she could imagine- and as far as she knew, despite the thousands of times that she and Mike had exchanged flirty texts, despite each time she felt that he was leading her on, those types of words had never left Mike's mouth. She bit her lip.

...

Tina was sitting next to him during glee rehearsal. They were sitting next to each other but they barely even looked at each other and all Mike wanted to do was reach out for her hand and ask her about her day, ask her to talk, make her laugh. It was as if they shared a secret, which in a sense, they did. If only they could just be open about their friendship. It was too risky, however, since Matt's parents had become friends with his own, and knowing Matt and his total absent-mindedness, he could very easily let it slip to his parents on accident.

Tina leaned over toward him, whispering under her breath and under the buzz of conversation in the room. "Artie asked me out today."

Mike blinked, stunned. _Artie did _what_? No way. No way in hell. _"He- he did? Uh... great!" It was as if the boundary lines that enclosed him in the friend zone had suddenly been cemented.

"Yeah... I was actually pleasantly surprised. I didn't see that coming."

"I kind of did," Mike shrugged, his heart racing, "He stares at you all the time." _He only knew that because he was always staring at her..._

"Oh, well," Tina smiled, "We'll see how it goes, I guess."

"I guess we will." Mike turned his attention to Artie, who was chatting animatedly with Mercedes. He tried his hardest not to stare daggers at him.

...

Tina: having trouble in these wheelchairs?  
Mike: nahh i'm as coordinated as ever ;)  
Tina: i already ran into three people so far :(  
Mike: aww poor baby :(

...

"No f-f-fair, you've had eight years of practice," Tina cried, exhilarated from the race. She was actually having a pretty good time on their date. They had gotten slushies and then chased each other around the school in their wheelchairs. She never would have expected it. Everything felt easy and comfortable between them. Grins plastered to their faces, they grew silent. Artie was such a sweet guy. Artie suddenly mentioned her stutter for the third time that day, and she figured it was time to tell him the truth. Her experience with Mike had emboldened her.

"I have to tell you something."

...

It had ended awfully. Artie had snapped at her, wheeling away from her faster than he had even managed during their race. And she was left sitting there, mouth open and foot inserted, without a clue of what to say. She pulled out her phone slowly.

Tina: you at home?  
Mike: yeah, what's up? where are you?  
Tina: school. your parents home?  
Mike: no, they're on business for the next two days.  
Tina: can i come over? :/  
Mike: picking you up, be there in 10

...

"Oh, god, Mike it was awful, I had no idea he was going to be that upset and he just left and told me that he thought we had had something in common and then he accused me of pushing people away which is totally true but then he said he would never have done what I did and _god_ he told me I could fake my stutter and then go on with life without it and he couldn't do the same, he'd be stuck in his wheelchair forever and I just feel so horrible, Mike," Tina gasped for air as she pulled the seatbelt over her shoulder.

"Shhh, T, it's okay," Mike soothed, "Did he break it off or something?"

"I don't know," Tina wailed, "Basically! He didn't want to talk to me after that!"

It was hard not to be pleased by this news. Mike reached for her hand over the gear shift, "Hey, it'll be okay. Really. Artie will come around." Or hopefully not, he couldn't help but think.

"Do you really think he'll forgive me?" Tina moaned.

Mike kept his eyes focused on the road. He wanted to tell her to forget about Artie. That Artie was overreacting and that if he truly cared about her, it wouldn't even matter. "Of course he will. How could he not?"

"I don't know," Tina whimpered, tightening her grasp on his hand.

"Shh, it'll be okay. You can come over and I'll make you something to eat and maybe you can take a nap or something to get your mind off of this. It's the weekend, T! This should be your time to relax."

Tina nodded silently.

...

"Just so you know: I make the best grilled cheeses on the planet," Mike announced cheerfully from the kitchen.

Tina chuckled, folding her body into a pretzal on Mike's couch. She let her eyes wander around the house. It was pretty big, and very similar to her own (probably because of their families' similar careers). It was very ornately decorated, white with light bronze and beige trim. The couch was a soft, buttery leather and she felt her body weight sink into it.

"Your house is beautiful," she said softly.

Mike turned away from the pan, where the grilled cheese was frying, "Thanks. I wish you could be here more often. Sometimes, my mom puts out amazing flower arrangements. Last time she brought these incredible lilies in. Today...nothing."

She laughed, "Mike Chang, a sucker for flowers? Who would have imagined?" She watched as he maneuvered the sandwich onto a ceramic plate,

"Hey! My mom is really good at arranging them, and they make the house smell nice. Here," he handed her a platter with the grilled cheese on it, then sat down next to her on the couch. Their pretzal legs matched, and their knees touched, though his legs were much longer than hers. She looked down at his dark jeans and her own black tights. She couldn't help but feel the warmth that he exuded. An image of Artie's face flashed in her mind, as if some higher being was warning her that she was mentally cheating on her new boyfriend who was currently too angry at her to even hold a conversation with her.

"Thanks," she murmured, as she took a big bite out of the sandwich, "And- oh my god, this really _is_ the best grilled cheese I ever tasted."

"Told you. And you doubted me." Mike smirked triumphantly, "And hey- don't worry about Artie, okay? He'll come around and you'll both forget about this whole thing."

"I hope so," Tina said sadly. "Thanks for this, by the way."

"For what?"

"For taking care of me, I guess. For being here for me." Tina played with the ends of her hair awkwardly, "I really appreciate it. Which is saying something," she frowned, "I don't normally like to be taken care of. It makes me feel weak."

"Not a problem. I'll always be here, Tina. All you have to do is holler. And you know you could never be weak."

A warmth accompanied his words, and it made Tina feel much more at ease. She rest her hand on his knee, and a different type of heat shot up her arm. "I know."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

They started to get paired off as dancing partners in their rehearsal numbers. When they sang Hello, Goodbye, Mike couldn't keep his eyes off of her as they spun in figure eights, as he reached out his arm to her waist and they spun in sync to the rest of the group. As he had to release her every time so they could trade partners. He watched her to see her send him quick, fleeting smiles. But as he watched her, he noticed that even though her eyes landed on his once in a while, she kept turning back to look at Artie, a wistful expression on her rosy face.

...

Tina: artie just texted me! he wants to meet me between classes. good sign, you think?

Mike glared at his screen. Damn him, he grumbled to himself. Damn Artie for trying to mend things. Trying to fix a situation that Mike was, to be perfectly honestly, happy with. Damn him for rocking the boat. The situation as he knew and liked it had meant that Tina would spend long hours each day talking to him, trying to get her mind off of Artie. It meant that she would throw herself onto him everyday in search for the attention she needed. The attention he was all too happy to provide. Mike had really been banking on the possibility that Artie could hold a grudge and never let go.

Mike: sounds like a good sign to me :)

He clicked send very, very reluctantly.

...

"I thought a lot about it and I forgive you for lying about your stutter. However, if you're planning on getting all up on this, you're gonna have to make some changes. The goth thing was two years ago so maybe lose the vampire makeup and consider some tighter-fitting clothing. You've got the power and I believe you should work it more if we're gonna be an item." Artie spewed word after word into Tina's ears and all she could do was gape.

As the steam started to exit her ears with increasing speed, she let go of her hands off of his wheelchair. _What?_ She began blinking rapidly at this version of Artie she had never known.

_Was he really going to tell her off for this _crap? _Are you kidding me?_

_...  
_

"Hey girl!" Artie's familiar, swaggering voice sounded, his eyes focused on her body.

That was it. Tina snapped. Snapped at every word that had left Artie's mouth the day before. "My eyes are up here," she glared at him fiercely, "I am a person with feelings. Get out of my grill!" She continued, eyes blazing, "I am a powerful woman and my growing feminism will cut you in half like a righteous blade of equality!"

She stormed off, leaving Artie looking bewildered and not caring at all when she suddenly caught a glimpse of Mike, who was leaning against a locker looking extremely amused.

...

Mike: quite an outburst you had back there  
Tina: oh shut up  
Mike: didn't know you had such a feisty side :)  
Tina: not gonna talk to you tonight if you keep teasing  
Mike: :)

...

Tina was leaning against the piano, avoiding eye contact with Artie.

"I would get down on one knee if I could."

"Why would you propose to me? You don't even like me," Tina rolled her eyes, voice heavy.

Artie caught her hand, his voice gentle, "That's where you're wrong. I was really rude to you. You're awesome. And you shouldn't change unless you want to. And... if you want to get up on this..."

Tina couldn't help but smile.

"...Just let me know."

She felt like a proud mother, "Yup. That's more like it." They shared a smile and she felt the urge to kiss him. She touched her lips to his gently, slowly, and her shoulders relaxed as they fell into each other, comfort enveloping them once again.

...

Once Artie had collapsed on the floor in their attempts to get him to walk again, all Tina could feel was regret and shame. It was all Brian Ryan's fault. For crushing Artie's dream, and all she had wanted to do was fix it. She signed, thinking back to Artie's misery. She could only imagine what Artie was feeling when he whimpered, "Just go."

Determined, she had her eyes fixated on the computer screen in the library.

"Studying?"

She looked up. Mike, with his backpack carelessly slung over one shoulder, took a seat next to her.

"No. Research," she smiled.

Mike leaned over her shoulder and peered at her Google search. "Latest breakthroughs in parapalegic cases. Is this for Artie?"

"Mhmm," Tina nodded absent-mindedly, "It's his dream to dance, Mike. And I'm making it my mission to make sure he doesn't forget his dream. Especially with Brian Ryan around, stomping all over everyone."

"Oh."

Tina whipped around to face Mike. "Everything okay?" she asked, concerned about his sullen tone.

"Yeah, definitely. Long day," Mike smiled weakly.

She turned back to the computer and hit print, sending dozens of documents to the printer. "Same."

...

Mike felt like he was sitting in a theater by himself, watching as Tina and Artie's relationship blossomed on the screen. And all he was left with was a bin of cold popcorn and a sense of urgency that couldn't be cooled. Every day, he had watched her worry about if and when Artie was going to forgive her. And now, every day, he had to watch her trek full steam ahead in this new relationship. He watched her as her eyes, fiery with determination to be a worthy girlfriend, showed no sign of tenderness or patience for the moments they still shared sometimes.

...

"Please think about this," Tina begged. Artie had given it all up. The whole dream of dancing, and she felt like something was being snatched from beneath her feet.

"I have," Artie said softly, "You've worked too hard on this routine to have half a partner. Fact is, any of those guys in there could dance my part better than me without even rehearsing. Well...except Finn."

"But I want to dance with you," Tina frowned. She had tried so hard to make things work between them again. To make things on level footing again.

"I can't dance. And I never will. But... that's okay. I'm never gonna dunk a basketball or kill a lion, either. I have to focus on dreams that I can make come true. I'm good, Tina. _Really_," he reassured her.

Tina felt her eyes well up, but she nodded. "Will you at least sing the song?"

Artie grinned, "Sure."

...

Tina: meet me in the choir room. i have a little request to make  
Mike: oh? sure, be there in less than 5

Mike's heartbeat picked up as he slammed his locker shut and dashed to the choir room. Maybe Artie had broken up with her. Maybe she had come to her senses and was requesting a dinner date this Friday. Just the two of them. He shook his insane thoughts from his head. Tina was standing there with a half-smile on her face, as if she had suffered a great deal throughout the past week and was doing her best to pull through.

"What's up, T?" he asked as casually as possible, taking a seat next to her.

"Artie won't do the number with me. He can't. And he wants me to find another dancing partner." She looked up at him, her eyes wet. "I figured who better than you?"

Though he should have been thrilled that she had picked him to perform with her, he couldn't help but feel a little resentful. Bitter that he had become second string material. The benchwarmer that you only send in as a last resort, and even then, the coach was a little uncertain. "Of course I'll do the number with you," Mike conceded a little warily.

"Great. It's not too hard," Tina assured him, "I figured we could try it right now?"

"Yeah, of course."

He watched as she turned on the boombox and the light notes of the introduction floated in the room. As she coached him through the steps, he watched her intently. Her forehead was tight with worried wrinkles and her eyes were heavy with sorrow. She cared about Artie. A lot. And even if he was her dance partner for this one number, Artie was her partner...in life.

...

"Come on up, Tina. I understand that you whipped up a little dance number for us. A breakout that we might use at regionals. You got a dance partner?" Mr. Schuester announced in front of the glee club.

Tina's eyes traveled to Artie, who gave her an encouraging smile. She then looked over to Mike. "Mike Chang," she said with a tiny smile on her lips.

The glee club cheered, and she watched as Mike beamed, shrugged to his football friends, and bounded across the room to join her up front.

...

_Stars shining bright above you night breezes seem to whisper I love you._  
_Birds singing in the sycamore tree dream a little dream of me._  
_Say nighty-night and kiss me just hold me tight and tell me you miss me._  
_While I'm alone and blue as can be dream a little dream of me._

Mike stood up, and took Tina's hand. They began to dance across the stage, their tap shoes clicking against the floor in perfect rhythm. He kept his eyes on her the entire time, refusing to break her gaze. Only vaguely aware of Tina's boyfriend's singing, he reached for her each time they took a spin and reluctantly let go each time they danced away from each other. The material from her ruffly blue blouse pleated every time he took her waist into his hands and her skin felt warm against his own. As the number wound down, and it was time for the dip, Mike inhaled sharply as Tina lay her arm around his neck slowly. So slowly and it landed like a butterfly on him and all he could do was pray that she couldn't feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight up. She gripped his hand with hers. He dipped her down slowly, gently. Their eyes locked, and their faces were so close. He could smell the strawberry and coconut. He could feel her breath on his skin. He wanted to kiss her. So much.

Reality broke the moment. The glee club applauded, and Mike lifted Tina back up so they were both standing again. He watched her as she turned to face Artie, who was sitting by himself on the side of the stage. She thanked Mike softly and walked over to Artie, no doubt to comfort him. No doubt to make him feel better, as Artie's face was so heartbreakingly somber that Mike wanted to punch the wall.

She didn't feel it, he concluded. Didn't feel the urgency.

...

Regionals were a blur to Mike. He could only remember losing. When Rachel had ordered them all to learn To Sir, With Love, the club felt heavy-hearted. Glee club was over for them. Over for good and Mike prayed in his mind that Tina would still stay up at nights with him over their phones, whispering under their covers about their favorite video games and why dark chocolate was better than milk chocolate.

As they took their places in a semi-circle on their stools, Mike glanced over at Tina. Her eyes were wet from crying and his heart ached for her. He had football, but glee mattered to her so much more. It was her first priority, and it had rapidly started to become his as well. No, _Tina_ was rapidly starting to become his first priority. She had texed him with wildly anxious messages about her relationship with Artie, wondering if the relationship was moving too fast, wondering if Artie was sending her mixed signals or not. Mike answered each one faithfully, sent each one with with slow, unyielding fingers that yearned to text something along the lines of _leave him. Leave him for me_.

They took turns confessing their lives before glee club. When it was Mike's turn, he avoided looking at Tina and said softly, "I was afraid to dance outside my room."

They began the song, Rachel's sweet, echoing voice emerging from the instrumentals. Mike watched as Tina and Artie exchanged loving looks as they sang their quick duet. Their voices complemented each other's so well. So harmoniously that he could only grip his stool tightly and continue his soft background vocal part. Continue to hover in the background and watch.

...

"We've got another year."

The whole club, shocked, said nothing.

"_Come on_, we've got another year!"

As the message sunk in, the club leapt to its feet and cheered. Tina shrieked and high-fived Artie. They were all buzzing with excitement. Glee club wasn't over. They had another chance. Her close connections with some of the most important people in her life would continue to exist.

As Mr. Schuester and Puck began to sing a very beautiful arrangement of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Tina locked hands with Artie, swaying to the melodious notes. The school year was over, but Glee wasn't. Summer would begin, and Glee would continue to live on.


	4. Chapter 4

"Mom, I really don't see the point in going to this camp," Tina frowned, "They don't need me there and I'd really rather spend the summer with my friends." Summer had begun, and it had started slowly. Tina had hung out with Mercedes and Kurt a couple of times, but she had spent a good deal of time in her room, reading or singing.

"Don't be ridiculous, Tina," her mom rolled her eyes, "They specifically requested you because you you're in your school's glee club. If you don't go, Anne Li will never forgive me."

"Two months, mom," she groaned, "Two months with a bunch of asians. That sounds like a nightmare of a summer."

Her mom frowned, cupping her daughter's chin in her hand, "Do this as a favor to me and Mrs. Li, Tina. Please?"

Tina sighed heavily. She hated it when her mom pulled the favor card. Her phone vibrated, and she touched the screen to read the message.

Artie: busy right now, maybe later?

Tina narrowed her eyes. She had sent him a text to hang out over five hours ago and he was just now responding?

Tina: busy with what? i really wanted to see that new movie.  
Artie: we just watched a movie together last week. and I'm playing Halo- marathon!

Tina huffed, picking up her phone to call Artie.

"Artie, I have to go to asian camp _all_ summer. Can we please hang out today? I'm leaving in two days!"

"I promise, after this marathon is over, we can watch Coming Home at my place."

"We _just_ watched Coming Home, Artie. And when will your marathon be over?" Marathons. That's all she ever heard. Halo and marathons and guns and god knows what else.

"I don't know, depends on how well I do. And knowing my dope skills, I'll be able to carry this baby out for quite a while! Okay, gotta go."

He hung up without another word.

Without another word, just like he always _always _did and it drove her crazy. It had started as the school year was winding down- once Artie knew that he was in her good graces again, he had really let loose of the reins. He trusted too easily, and not in a good way. He trusted that he could do whatever he wanted and that she'd still be there waiting like a good housewife or something for him. And Tina Cohen-Chang would _not_ be reduced to a simple housewife.

...

"Have fun, sweetie! We love you!" Her mom and dad had insisted on sending her up to camp together. As if they cared about her- if they really cared, they woudn't have sent her to this godforsaken place. How did she get dragged into this?

"Bye," she muttered, lugging her suitcases out of the car and slamming the door shut, "Thanks a lot."

Her parents, being the ever oblivious asians that they were, completely missed the sarcasm dripping from her voice and beamed, "You're welcome, Tina!"

Grumbling, Tina shuffled toward the main cabin, where they were supposed to check in, struggling with her two suitcases and one duffel bag. Why was she _here_? How could she baby-sit a bunch of little asian children for two months when her friends were back at home? When Artie was back at home and she could barely catch a free moment with him in the first place? At least now he could play Halo to his heart's content, she thought bitterly, pulling aggressively at her luggage.

"Are you planning on staying here forever?" a soft male voice sounded from behind her.

Tina whipped around to face a tall, lanky asian. No, not _a_ tall, lanky asian. _The_ tall, lanky asian.

"Mike? Mike? _Mike_? What are you doing here?"

He raised an eyebrow, a smile creeping up on his face, "My name doesn't change after the third time, does it? And the same reason why you're here, I'm guessing? Seriously, though, that's a lot of luggage." He looked her up and down, then stared at her bags.

She didn't know whether to be flattered or offended by his once-over. Tina narrowed her eyes, "I'm a girl. I have a lot of clothes. Your family knows Anne?"

"Oh, yeah, my mom is like best friends with Anne. I come here every year to help out," Mike shrugged, reaching over to take one of her suitcases and her duffel bag, "Let me help you."

"I- okay, thanks," Tina stammered.

"I saw your name on the staff list that they sent out last week," Mike offered.

"You-you did? They had a staff list? I didn't know you were going to be here!" Tina wondered to herself whether or not she would have decided to come to this camp if she knew Mike would be there as well. It would certainly make the experience much more interesting. And besides, now that he was here, she could relax a little- it wouldn't just be her and a bunch of strangers. She _knew_ Mike. Probably, she relented. Probably despite the fact that no progress had ever been made in their relationship, whatever it was supposed to be, and probably despite the fact that she was going out with Artie even though the damn boy would not drop his xbox remote for one _damn_ second.

"Would you have come if you knew I was here?"

"I'd have to think about it," Tina chose her words carefully. _Yes_, she was secretly thinking.

"Ouch," Mike frowned, clearly offended.

She hid a smile and turned away, not wanting him to see. Instead, she approached Anne, who was sitting behind the desk at the back of the room.

"Tina! Mike! I'm so glad you're here! We're going to get started right away- we're leading a nature hike in ten minutes." Anne gave them a stressed smile, "So you can leave your luggage in your respective cabins- the boys' cabin is toward the east and the girls' is toward the west."

"Actually, this is all Tina's luggage," Mike grinned, "Mine is already in the boys' cabin."

Tina made a face at him before turning back to Anne. "Where are the other counselors?"

Anne rubbed her eyes wearily, "Well, there's me. And a couple of volunteers that are all freshmen in high school. You guys are the only ones that will be staying each night."

Tina gaped, "So we have to keep all of these kids in control by ourselves?"

Anne laughed. "Well, I'll be leading most of the activities. Besides, there are only ten kids. I think it'll be manageable. We don't really have enough money to hire lots of staff. And to be perfectly honest," Anne said sheepishly, "Your parents agreed to have you two work for reduced wages since we were family friends."

Tina groaned, "Wonderful. I feel cheated." _Reduced wages_? There was never a mention of reduced wages when her mom had forced this summer job on her.

"Sorry, guys. We have an extremely low budget. Could you guys put your luggage away quickly so you can lead them through the nature hike? Here," she produced two leaflets from behind the desk, "Just follow the map- you should be fine."

Tina sighed and nodded, dragging her luggage behind her with Mike at her heels. "Can you believe this?" Tina groaned, "Two months with no one but asians. This is ridiculous."

"Hey, I happen to like asians!" He joked. "Besides, it's not so bad," Mike shrugged cheerfully, "The kids are always really fun and I didn't really have anything planned for this summer, anyway."

"I guess," she allowed, but frowned, "But we're not even getting paid well!" She heaved her luggage into the cabin that Anne had mentioned and cast Mike a quick look, "Let's go lead this hike, then. Where are the kids?"

"Well... If I had to make an educated guess, I would say huddled around the campfire with their cellphones and iPods."

They glanced over at the fire pit. Sure enough, every single pair of slanty eyes was fixated on a pixelated screen of some kind. It astounded her that they all owned so many electronic devices. She was pretty sure that when she was in elementary school, all she had was one of those Tamogotchis. Tina and Mike shared an exasperated look.

"Okay guys! We're going to go on a hike! Put your electronic devices in the bin in the main cabin right away so we can go," Mike announced, unzipping his jacket and tossing it by the fire pit to reveal a small and very thin white v-neck t-shirt. Tina stared.

"Do we have to go?" a very small boy with thick, horn-rimmed glasses whined, "I hate hikes, I always get so tired."

"Of course we have to go!" Mike exclaimed, "It'll be fun, I promise. Tina and I have a great route planned for you guys. Follow us, okay?"

They led the kids into the cabin, where each of them reluctantly dropped their phones into a big blue bin. Tina couldn't help but laugh- it was as if they were being asked to give up food for the rest of the week. As each kid waddled after Mike like a series of annoyed ducklings, Tina chuckled, taking up the rear and cracking open her leaflet. According to the map, the opening to the trail was right behind the girls' cabin.

Tina watched from afar as Mike foolishly leapt around the kids, pointing out the sky, the trees, and even the coarse, ugly weeds along the side of the trail. She watched as one girl tripped over a stump and began to cry and Mike helped her back up and cooed reassurances to the poor girl. She watched as the girl stuck out her knee and even though it was scratched up and covered in dirt, Mike gave it a kiss. She watched as the little girl beamed with satisfaction. She shook her head. A whole summer with Mike Chang. This was definitely going to be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

The nature hike was long and arduous. The kids were bored the entire way through, and Mike was pretty sure that the only way the benefited from it as all was burning off a couple hundred calories- the hills were steep back there! By the time they had finished the trail, the sun was beginning to set and the kids were exhausted. As they herded the kids back to their respective cabins, Mike glanced over at Tina, who was coaxing a bur out of one of the kids' shirts.

"It hurts! Wait- ow, stop!"

"Shh," Tina soothed, tugging gently at the bur, "There, all gone." The girl looked relieved and grinned up at Tina.

"Ready to call it a night?" Mike asked softly as the kids hurried into their cabins, where they knew their phones were waiting for them.

"I'm actually not tired. Is that weird?" Tina laughed good-naturedly, "I don't feel like sleeping even though we just walked over a mile."

Mike grinned, "Let's go over to the main cabin and grab some iced tea or something, then. Anne will get the kids to sleep."

That earned him a sheepish smile, "Okay," she said softly, following him as he led the way into the main cabin. It took all his energy not to turn around to face her. To look at her. It would take that same type of energy all summer. _All summer_ because that's how long of a time he was going to spend with Tina.

"So!" Mike began as he pulled a batch of iced tea out of the refrigerator, "What brings you here? I'm used to being the only counselor."

She searched the cupboards for cups, "Well, Anne and my mom have girl talks all the time and when my mom mentioned that I'm in the glee club, Anne immediately asked me to come here. So now... here I am."

"Here you are," Mike repeated, pouring the iced tea into each cup and handing her one, "You think you can handle me for two months?"

Tina gave him a devious smile, "Try me."

...

"All right, keep quiet," Tina hissed under her breath to the five little asian girls who were at her heels, all giggling hysterically. They were executing an early morning prank on the boys, and it had to go perfectly.

Tina creaked open the door to the boys' cabin slowly, and motioned for the girls to follow. They were each assigned to a boy, and were all supposed to tickle tackle one of them until they got out of bed. The bonus? Each of them had a ziploc baggie filled with chunks of ice.

"Now!" Tina whispered. She faced Mike's sleeping figure. He was wearing a very thin wife-beater and a low-slung pair of plaid pajama pants. She swallowed hard and began pulling the ice out of the baggie. Stuffing them down his shirt, she leaped onto his legs and began to poke him in the torso.

"Ow- what the- mmf- Tina?" Mike began squirming, still half-asleep but definitely, _definitely_ uncomfortable. Tina checked the other girls, they were all doing the same, though, admittedly, they weren't straddling the boys they were assigned to. They were all keeling over in fits of laughter as the boys shrieked in protest.

"Rise and shine," she sang loudly, continuing to tickle him in every place she could reach.

"Tina! Tin- stop! Ahh! I surrender, I surrender," Mike yelped. "Wha- is this ice? Oh my god!" He jumped to his feet, knocking Tina over, and shook the ice from his shirt.

With a very satisfied smirk, she looked up at him, "Good morning!"

"O-oh, man are you guys going to get it. You're in so. Much. Trouble." He looked around at the kids, who were watching them. "Hey, you guys are supposed to meet Anne by the main cabin for breakfast. Whoever gets there first gets to eat first, so get a move on!"

The kids all shrieked and made a bolt for the door. As the last one disappeared from the cabin, Mike turned back to Tina with a devilish grin on his face.

Tina's eyes widened immediately and she began shrinking into fetal position, "No, no, no, Mike, I'm sorry! Have mercy!"

"I don't think so!" Mike pounced back onto the bed and on top of her, his long fingers tickling her relentlessly.

Squirming, she squeaked, "I give up! I give up! Let me go!"

Breathlessly, he stopped and leaned back, satisfied. "That'll teach you to mess with me."

Tina, also gasping to catch her breath, shoved his shoulder, "It was a harmless prank!"

"Harmless? I think you may have shaved a couple years off of my life, you scared me so badly!" Mike pouted, crossing his arms.

"Oh, man up," Tina teased. "Besides, you enjoyed it."

"Me? Enjoyed it? Not a chance!" But his smile gave him away and they both knew it.

A silence filled the gaps between their conversations. She looked at him hesitantly and he offered her a small smile.

"How are things with Artie?" Even though the question was carefree, his eyes were marked with some sort of knowing sense.

Tina stared. Stared at this man who managed to just know everything all the time about her. How did he _do_ that? "Could be better," she said slowly. "He's busy all the time."

She saw him give her a pointed look. A look that she understood.

"Look, Mike. I feel like we need to talk about something."

"And what's that?"

"You led me on all year, Mike," she found herself wailing. "We were friends at first, of course, and I appreciated every moment you spent with me but it just kept getting to be more and more and I kept thinking you were going to ask me out but then I thought how could I be that stupid and-"

"Tina. Tina!" He interrupted her. "Maybe I have some explaining to do."

"Hell yeah, you do."

...

Mike felt like the entire cabin was collapsing on top of him. Tina _had_ noticed his, for lack of a better word, obsession with her. She _had _noticed how much he had wanted to be with her. And she _had _been waiting for him to say something. To ask her out. And he was too stupid, too _thick _to do so. And now she was with Artie and, though she _did _say things could have been better between them, Mike thought to himself hopefully, she had decided to be with Artie and that was that. He had missed out on his chance.

"T... I don't think you understand. I wasn't accidentally leading you on. I've had a huge crush on you for a really, _really_ long time and I was debating whether or not to say anything because I thought you'd think I was a total creep and then _Artie_ asked you out and you seemed so happy and I knew if I mentioned how much I really liked you I would just be the asshole that tried to tear apart a relationship. How could I do that to you, Tina? You were happy and you were-"

"I thought you just saw me as a friend."

Incredulous, Mike spluttered, "You called me a friend first. _You_ did! What was I supposed to think? I backed off right away, albeit not completely. I tried so hard, T, but after Artie, I couldn't bring myself to say anything."

Tina's familiar brown eyes were on him so intensely he thought he might crack. She squinted a little and her lips parted just a tad. "I'm with Artie right now."

"I know, Tina. Believe me. I know." Mike wanted to reach out to grab her hand but that would have been so unbearably inappropriate at the moment that the gentleman inside him screamed for him to stop.

"I'm with Artie," she repeated. Her eyes failed to leave him, though, and he couldn't help but stare back. Stare back at the truth that lay before them and the miscommunication that had finally disappeared. But it wasn't any better, he realized. Things were still exactly the same.

...

Tina tapped her finger impatiently against the desk as she listened to the dial tone of her cell phone.

Finally, an answer. "What up, Tina?"

"Artie. _Artie. _Hi." The truth was, despite her and Mike's intense conversation earlier that morning, the sound of Artie's rich, soulful voice was still familiar and good and it still made her feel more at home.

"How is it at... where are you at... asian camp?"

"It's good," Tina chuckled, "It's mostly just trying to get kids away from their cellphones and to appreciate nature and sports and- what's that sound?"

"That, my dear woman, is the sound of a plasma rifle. One of a kind! I think I may have a shattered a record today."

"Could you...could you pause the game for just like _five_ minutes? I can't talk for too long. Mike and I have to lead a canoe ride in ten minutes."

"_Mike?_ Mike who?" Artie's voice suddenly became much sharper and distinct and_ focused._

"Mike Chang."

"What's _he _doing there?"

"He's the other counselor here," Tina explained. Artie's incoherent spluttering on the other end frustrated her. They had already gotten in an argument before the summer had started about her and Mike Chang. Artie had claimed that he had saw Mike checking her out, which she completely denied because at the time, she genuinely doubted that Mike would have ever been checking her out. After today, though... it seemed a little more plausible.

"Well, maybe I'll let you and _Mike_ get to your lovely canoe adventure."

"Wh-what? Are you kidding me, Artie? Are you seriously going to turn this on me? I'm trying to get you to talk to me and just ignore your xbox for _five_ minutes and then you decide to somehow make this _my_ fault?"

"Forget it, Tina. I'll talk to you later."

"Artie!"

Nothing. The dial tone sounded and she stared down at her phone. _Call ended._

Frustrated, she speed-texted him a message before pocketing her phone and storming toward the lake, where Mike and the kids were all waiting.

Tina: calling you again later tonight. we're okay, right?  
Artie: maybe.

...

As Mike heaved two canoes right side up, he talked to the kids, most of whom he was rapidly learning the names of. The tallest, scrawniest boy was Evan and the tannest one was Dylan. The other three were Ted, Nick, and Wayne, but he could never remember if Ted was the one with the buzz cut or if Wayne was the one that always ended his sentences with a question mark.

"Mike! Are we ready to go?"

He looked up. Tina was running toward them in a pair of white shorts and a soft black t-shirt that hugged her body in a way that had his eyes bugging out of their sockets a little. He glanced down at the kids that were all under twelve that surrounded him and thought better of staring at Tina with drool dripping out of his mouth. But things didn't seem awkward... that was a good sign, right? Unless Tina was just putting up a show with her damn acting skills because the kids were there.

He cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah, just got the canoes ready, the oars are inside. I figured we would each take a canoe?"

Tina stared at him blankly, "Anne's not coming?"

Mike chuckled, "Anne doesn't do much at all, to be honest. The other volunteers will be here tomorrow and _they're_ the ones that carry the weight. Anne will have you thinking that she's too busy with all the paperwork, but really she's kicking back in her own cabin with chips and salsa and an episode of _Grey's Anatomy_."

"How unfair," Tina pouted as she started pushing one of the canoes toward the lake. "Fine then. I'll take three girls and two boys and you take two girls and three boys. Deal? Allie, Natalie, and Karen come with me. Erin and Valerie, you guys can go with Mike."

"All right, then. Evan and Dylan can go with you," Mike decided as the kids filed toward their assigned canoe. "How about we race to that tiny little island over there?" He pointed to the mossy looking chunk of rock that barely passed as an island out in the distance.

"A race?" Tina's eyes gleamed. "You're on. Come on, guys. Let's beat Mike and his team."

"Not a chance," Mike grinned, allowing his kids to get into the canoe before pushing it into the water, "See you there!"

"_What?_ No fair! You got a head start!" Tina wailed as her kids scrambled to get into the canoe and she struggled to push the canoe out into the water.

"You snooze, you lose!" Mike shouted behind him as he handed each one of the kids in his canoe an oar and they all paddled furiously. He cracked up as one of the girls struggled to paddle in the wrong direction. "Sweetie, you gotta go the other way. Here, like this." He motioned with his paddle and pushed them further toward the island. "Hey, we should have a team name! What do you guys say?"

"The Pirates!"

"No! The Wizards!"

One of the girls made a face, "How about the Shooting Stars?"

The boys made disgusted faces.

"Hey, I have an idea! We can be the Macs and Tina's team can be the PCs!" the other girl suggested brightly.

Mike stared at the tiny little girl and burst out in laughter. "Macs it is. I've always liked my macbook." He barely noticed when Tina's canoe suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Suckers!" Tina shouted as they began to pass Mike's canoe.

"Oh, _NO WAY_!" Mike cried in disbelief, "Come on, Macs! Let's win this thing!" He beamed at his team and their determined faces, all paddling their little tails off. He matched their strokes with his own slightly bigger ones and they slowly inched their way to tie things up with Tina's team again. "Keep paddling, guys!" He instructed them as he placed his oar down at the floor of his canoe. He rolled up his sleeves and began spraying Tina with water, trying to avoid the kids as much as possible.

"_MIKE!_"

Grinning triumphantly as he watched Tina struggle to see as she spit water out of her mouth, he shouted, "See you at the finish line!"

Tina was clearly fuming. She dropped her oar right away and began spraying him with a vigor he was surprised to see from her. His surprise quickly turned into disbelief as his vision was completely knocked out and all he could feel was water dripping from his body. Suddenly, water began coming at him at all angles and he could only assume that meant that _all_ the kids were spraying him with water. He peeled off his white t-shirt and waved it in the air as a sign of surrender. A surrender to the PCs. To Tina. He waved and waved and waved, unable to stop himself from laughing.


	6. Chapter 6

That particular moment was the first time Tina had ever become completely hypnotized by Mike Chang's abs. As she and Mike served the kids lasagna, fruit, salad, and apple juice, she pictured in her mind's eye every single section of the six-pack glory that existed upon his stomach and she had a sudden urge to jump on him from where he was standing in the kitchen, pouring even glasses of juice with an intention so focused for something as silly as apple juice. It took her greatest effort not to peel the very wet t-shirt off of his body to get another look. She glanced at him. He had a towel around his neck and his hair was spiking up in every direction due to the water logged in each strand. It was kind of sexy, in a way. She was used to seeing it lie flat against his skull.

"Good match today," he grinned at her as he passed the cups of juice around, "though it was kind of unfair the way you turned everyone against me."

"Hey, they did that on their own accord," Tina laughed as the two of them let the kids talk amongst themselves and devour the hefty meal that they had spread across the table. "It's not up to me when it comes to what _they_ want to do."

Mike made a face at her, "No they didn't. They love me."

"Whatever you say, Mike," she snickered. "The current state of your t-shirt would suggest otherwise."

"Oh, yeah? You making fun of my t-shirt? Wanna feel it? Hmm?" He approached her slowly. "How about a big old hug from your favorite asian?"

Tina shrieked and started backing away from him, "Don't even think about it, Mike Chang. Don't even _think about it!_"

Mike was so much faster. As she started running away from him and even out the cabin door, he came from behind and wrapped his arms around her and she felt the freezing water soak from his shirt to hers in nanoseconds or less and good _god_ it was cold. She screamed out loud, "_Miiiike!_"

"Yeah, bet you're feeling sorry now!" Mike said triumphantly.

_Not at all_, she couldn't help but think as her body was pressed up against his and she could feel how firmly toned his body was and how warm his skin was despite how cold his shirt had been. As he pulled away from her, she let out an exhilarated laugh.

"Is there a problem here?"

They whipped around to find Anne standing in front of them with an obvious sign of amusement in her eyes.

_Shit._ Anne couldn't find out about her and Mike, no matter the relationship that existed between them. If Anne told one of their parents that she and Mike even _talked_, they'd both be done for. Her mind raced for an excuse. "Nothing, Ms. Li." Thank god he had already released her from his hug. Unless Anne had seen that, too?

"Yeah, we were just joking around," Mike stated as nonchalantly.

"Ahh," Anne said slowly. "Didn't realize you two were that close."

Tina and Mike exchanged panicked looks. "Ms. Li," Tina began, desperately racking her brain for a string of words to put together.

"Look," Anne said pointedly, "I know the issues your families have. And to be perfectly honest, I don't really care if you guys are friends. I say that with two conditions, however. One is that you don't get inappropriate in front of the kids," she said, the amused expression returning to her face. "And two, remember that even if I don't care, it doesn't mean that your parents don't. So I would tread carefully if I were you two."

Relief. Tina nodded fervently, "Of course, Ms. Li. Thank you. Thanks a lot."

"Not at all," Ms. Li said. "I'm going to keep in eye on the kids. I'll see you two later." She walked into the main cabin, where the kids were eating, and Tina and Mike were left to themselves, an awkward silence enveloping them.

"Way to get us in trouble," Mike finally spoke up from behind her.

"_What?" _Tina said incredulously, "How is it my fau-" she turned to find him smirking at her. Oh, the cheeky little-

"Hey- if Ms. Li's watching all the kids, maybe you and I should take a break."

"What do you mean?" Tina blinked.

"Let's go for a walk," he suggested.

"A walk? To where?"

He laughed. "There doesn't have to be a destination. Come on, it's so nice out tonight." This was true, Tina noted as she breathed in the night air.

"Okay," Tina agreed, and they ambled away from the main cabin and down a barely-tread path that snaked around the woods. She glanced at Mike, who had his eyes glued to the sky. "If you keep your head up like that, you're gonna run into a tree," she giggled.

He turned to look at her, "And you would just stand there and watch?" He looked offended, but she could tell he was joking.

"Yeah, and I would laugh, too."

"Ouch. But come on, look how pretty it is!"

Tina tilted her head back to look at the sky. It was true, the moon was very bright and stars sprinkled the sky in hazy constellations, but Tina shook her head, "Mike Chang, you are just a walking cliché."

"What? What do you mean?" he folded his arms defensively.

"Night skies and flowers? You're practically a girl," she teased.

"Okay, _that_ was below the belt, Ms. Cohen-Chang. I'll have you know that I will be one of the most masculine people you will ever meet."

"You're not doing so hot so far," Tina laughed.

Mike sighed, "And the insult parade marches on. Come on, though. Don't I just scream _man_ to you?"

"I'm not going to answer that," she snorted.

"That probably means you actually think of me as one of the _sexiest _men you've ever met. Excellent."

"Where did you get _that _from?" Tina cried in disbelief.

"Oh, I'm very good with this kind of thing," Mike winked knowingly, "It's hard to get things past me."

_Except when I wanted you to ask me out this past year_, she wanted to retort, but knew that it would be better for both of them if she kept her mouth shut.

...

Mike and Tina were eating breakfast together at their own table a little further away from the kids, who were wolfing down Eggo waffles. It had been almost a week of camp so far. The volunteers, a hoard of middle schooler asians that looked like they had spent the entire school year behind their textbooks- which they probably did- and locked in a library, were showing up every day and a lot of the work that they had to do before became the volunteers' responsibilities. He and Tina had a lot more free time, and Mike reveled in it. Granted, during a lot of that free time, Tina was on the phone with Artie in the girls' cabin, and Mike had no idea what they were talking about, but he judged the conversations based on Tina's expression when she came back out. Recently, he had been noticing a lot of frustrated expressions and snappish reactions. He took this as a good sign. But, he reminded himself, there was no green light. He would have to behave, no matter how many troubles Tina and Artie might be having.

Tina was eating a bowl of oatmeal _and_ two waffles and there was something so inherently sexy about how she just ate without a care in the world. Not that eating was sexy or anything, it was more the way she didn't care about diets and starving herself and she was just real and genuine and _Tina_. Wait. He watched as she picked up her spoon and maple syrup dripped down the stem and she tilted her head to the side and licked all the maple syrup away. Scratch that. Tina eating _was_ sexy.

"I was surprised that the girls didn't get terrorized this morning," Tina mentioned off-handedly, "especially after what we did to you guys a while back."

"It adds to the element of surprise," Mike pointed his spoon at her, "Eventually you'll stop expecting it. And that, my dear, is when we _pounce_."

Tina rolled her eyes, "Sure, sure. But you know me and my girls are gonna be their with our fists up, ready to fight back."

"We'll see, T. We'll see."

"Don't be too scared," she grinned, "Or else-" she stopped abruptly and fished her phone out of her pocket. "Hello?"

Mike focused his attention on his oatmeal, trying not to eavesdrop but it was really kind of unavoidable what with her being less than three feet away from him.

"Hi, Artie. No, I'm eating breakfast. _Yes_, with Mike, but I told you _a thousand _times already. We're the only two counselors. Well maybe it's time you trusted me. Well maybe you have no right to tell me what to do."

_Damn_, Mike swore to himself. Tina was getting heated.

"Yes, _Artie_, I _am_ having fun here. Oh don't give me that crap. Fine, then. Just return to your stupid game because god knows I tried calling you five times yesterday and it went to your voicemail every single time. Of _course_ you can pause the game, I've _seen_ you do it before. You know what? Forget it, Artie. Maybe it's best if I just don't call you. That way you can play your game in peace." She stood up suddenly and hurried out of the cabin, hissing things into her phone that Mike couldn't make out anymore.

Were they...were they breaking up? He really couldn't tell and he felt a little guilty that the voice in his head was secretly starting to throw a party. But as he watched her saunter off with steam rushing out of her ears, he pushed away the feeling of guilt. If Artie wasn't willing to appreciate her, why should he feel guilty? Why should he when he knew that if he was with Tina, he would have dropped his xbox out the window in a heartbeat if necessary. And if Artie couldn't do the same, then screw guilt. Screw it.


	7. Chapter 7

Tina dropped her phone on the ground. Well, actually, she threw it. She watched as the battery cover flew off and her phone lay there, exposed. Tears forming at her eyes, she knelt down to pick up the pieces.

Her phone conversation with Artie had lasted half an hour- ironically longer than any conversation they had had before today- and Tina knew halfway in that they would have to reach an ultimatum at some point. It only took a couple more minutes to realize that that ultimatum would not end up being a very happy one.

"Maybe...maybe we should call it off, Artie," Tina finally said softly.

"I- what? Are you...breaking up with me?" His voice cracked.

"You don't understand, Artie. For months now it's just been me on the sidelines waiting for you to notice me, waiting for you to remember I'm here. And I think back to every phone call we had and all I can recall is you not having the patience or time to just pay attention to me for more than five minutes. And I know I was being demanding but after a certain point, it wasn't being demanding anymore. It was wanting a normal, functioning relationship. Our relationship hasn't been working, Artie, and it's not worth the pain it causes me to go through, either. I can't do this anymore, Artie."

Silence. Then, suddenly, "Are you sure about this?"

Tina's breath caught a little at the sound of his sullen tone. "Positive," she managed. "I'm sorry, Artie."

"Me, too."

Artie had never really been one to beg, Tina knew that. Irrational Tina had half-expected him to beg for her forgiveness, to promise to make things right. But rational Tina knew that if she sounded sure enough, he would watch her go.

"I gotta go," she whispered.

"Bye, Tina."

Dial tone. The sound of the end. Tina sat on the floor and rocked herself slowly back and forth. This was it. Her first relationship ever was officially over. She had watched it crash and burn right before her very eyes. And all she could wonder was whether or not she had caused it. _No_, her feminist voice screamed_. You didn't. This was not your fault._

...

Once she had checked her face in the mirror in the girls' cabin to make sure the tears had dried and the redness had subsided. Taking a deep breath, she exited the cabin. God knows how long she had been missing out on her responsibilities as a counselor. Anne was probably going to be pissed. She shielded her eyes from the sun, searching for people. She spotted the kids at a picnic table with Mike. It seemed as though they were making arts and crafts.

Mike looked up as if had sensed her presence. "Hey," he said softly, his lips curling up into a tiny smile. "Come join us, we're making keychains out of beads."

His eagerness over silly crafts made her laugh. "Okay." She strode over to where they were sitting and took a seat across from Mike and next to Erin, who was struggling with her beads. "Here, sweetie. Like this." She pulled the strings taut and looped them around each other. Erin beamed up at her but insisted on doing it herself. Tina laughed, "Be my guest."

She glanced over at Mike, who was watching her intently.

"I told Anne you weren't feeling well," Mike said.

"Thanks," Tina said appreciatively.

"So...how are you feeling now?" Mike asked tentatively.

Tina blinked, "I think so. I'm not sure if I'm ready to talk about it yet, though."

"Of course."

"Talk about what?" Natalie asked loudly. She had been watching Tina and Mike very intently.

"It's nothing, Nat," Tina reassured her. "Don't worry."

"The volunteers will be here in five minutes," Mike piped up. "I think they're bringing them swimming. Wanna go with them?"

Tina looked up at Mike again. His smile was so sweet, so real. Her shoulders relaxed a little. "Yeah, sounds great."

...

Mike had always loved swimming. He had packed three pairs of swim trunks because he knew that every time he came to work at this camp, he ended up swimming every day. It was weird that this year, a week had already passed by and he hadn't gotten in the water once. As he stripped down and pulled his favorite black and gray swim trunks on, he glanced at the boys in his cabin. They were all ready, towels around their necks and water toys in hand.

"All right, let's go. Last one in the water's a rotten egg!" He grinned as the boys sprinted out of the cabin, shrieking with laughter.

He turned to see the little girls chasing after the boys down to the lake, but his attention was captured immediately after by the girl- no, _woman_- taking her time and walking toward him. Tina. _Tina._ She was wearing a white string bikini and god he could not stop _staring like an idiot_. The way it hugged her body and the way her creamy, creamy skin was just exposed _everywhere._

"Hey! When are we gonna...what? Is something wrong?" Tina stared blankly at him.

He suddenly became very aware of how hard he must have been staring. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."

"Race ya," she winked and immediately sprinted toward the lake.

But he was perfectly content running behind her, being to watch her take long strides with those long, gorgeous legs and god he just couldn't peel his eyes away...

...

It was getting late. Anne was getting all of the kids into bed and he and Tina were sitting on the porch of the main cabin. She was wearing a thin, gauzy black t-shirt and he became very aware of how much she was shivering.

"Do you want me to get you a jacket?" he asked.

"Nah, don't worry about me. Mike, I think we should talk."

"About what?" But he could really only imagine one thing that was on both of their minds. Like how close they were sitting. How close her hand was to his leg.

"We broke up. Artie and me."

Mike turned to look at her, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"No you're not," she rolled her eyes.

"Well, no. But is that really so bad?" Mike smiled sheepishly.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "I don't want to feel like I ended my relationship because I was interested in someone else. I want to know that I made the right decision because Artie wasn't right for me."

"So you want more time," Mike concluded.

"I think so. I don't know. I need to be sure that I did the right thing. That I would have broken up with him even if you didn't exist."

She looked so _sad_. So confused. Mike reached out. He couldn't help it. His hands landed in her hair and he ran his fingers through it, stroking her soft, long locks tenderly. She looked up at him.

"You aren't helping matters," she retorted.

"Sorry," he retracted his hand.

She turned to face him as well, folding her legs up and locking gazes with him. "You are quite the guy, Mike Chang. I have to admit."

He grinned. "Be careful with your words. I take ego boosts to heart."

She shrugged, "You deserve this one."

...

"We're doing _The King and I_," Tina pressed. "Come on, it's perfect. I'll sing and you dance. This is why Anne wanted us here, right? To get the kids excited about the performing arts?" She was only vaguely aware that she wasn't talking to his face. She was talking to his abs. He had gone swimming earlier and had only put on a jacket over his completely naked torso. Was he aware that she couldn't stop staring?

"I guess," Mike shrugged. "But I don't know it so well."

"You're a _dancer._ Just listen to the music and move with it. Come on," Tina insisted, "I love _The King and I_. Please?" She shot him her best puppy-dog face.

"Oh, don't do that to me," he swatted her cheek gently. "All right, let's do it."

The kids were all sitting cross-legged on the carpet, their eyes fixated on their cellphones. There was one volunteer left and thank god he played the piano.

"Great!" she squealed, turning to Reed, the volunteer sitting at the piano. "Do you know _Getting To Know You_?"

Reed nodded and began playing the introductory chords.

_Getting to know you,  
getting to know all about you._

Tina began singing, glancing down at the kids who were paying very little attention to them. Mike was moving his arms fluidly to the rhythm that the piano was setting and he began spinning closer toward her.

_Getting to like you..._

They were inches apart. _Inches_. Suddenly, those inches became centimeters and all Tina could hear was his breathing and all she could feel was how damn close he was. She forgot about every single ten year old in the room, forgot about where they were, forgot about Artie and Anne and her parents and _his _ parents and suddenly, in one fluid motion, their lips crashed onto each other's and her arms flew to his neck and _god_ his lips were soft. He pressed up against her and she could feel the warmth of his skin and the world came crashing down around her because all she could see was _Mike_ and how close they were and she loved the way his arms held tight to her waist and the kiss seemed to last an eternity until he pulled away and then it seemed as if it were over too fast...

_Click_. Tina whipped her head around to find Evan snapping a shot of them with a silly grin on his face. All the kids suddenly had the attention span for them. They were all giggling behind their hands and whispering and pointing and Tina could feel herself flushing the deepest crimson. She mustered up the courage to look at Mike. He was smiling. No, he was _beaming _and his eyes were dancing with happiness and with complete disregard to the people around them.

She leaned in toward his ear and whispered, "Meet me tomorrow morning by the woods."

"All right, Evan, what will it take to get you to delete that photo?" Tina broke her gaze away from Mike and turned to the little kid.

Evan tapped his chin, "One hundred dollars," he declared. The kids giggled.

"How about five bucks and extra dessert tomorrow?"

Evan frowned, "Fine."

...

Mike lay in his bed, mind racing. It was completely dark and he was pretty sure that Evan was snoring but that was the last thing on his mind. That _kiss_. Every moment of it was plastered in his mind, was teasing him with the thought of kissing her again, feeling her lips on his with a type of frenzy he didn't even think was possible. Was this it? Was this all the time she needed? Was she okay now and could he finally be with her? Be with her after all this time? He touched his own lips, remembering the tingling feeling afterward that lingered after she had sucked on his bottom lip. And her last very, very sexy words that echoed between his ears and all he wanted to do was take her lips with his again. _Damn_.

He fell asleep with the smell of Tina's light, flowery perfume lingering in his nostrils.


	8. Chapter 8

Morning couldn't have come any slower for Mike. As the first rays of sunshine flooded into their cabin, he bolted out of his bed and brushed his teeth. Minty fresh breath. He felt like he needed it. He pulled his wife-beater off and found a white v-neck and pulled it over his head. Tip-toeing around the boys' bunks, he hurried out of the cabin and sprinted to the woods. He had never felt so _urgent_ in his life.

Tina was already there. She was kicking rocks around and staring at the ground, but when he rushed over to her, she looked up.

"Hey."

"Hey," he breathed. They were as close as they were the night before and his neck was bent downward so that he could look at her eyes. He forgot sometimes how tall he was.

"Mike, I-"

It didn't matter anymore. To him, she had given him the okay to want to make her his. He placed his hand on her arm and leaned down slowly to kiss her. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her relax into him. This kiss was softer. Gentler. Not as frenzied as the one yesterday, when it seemed like if they didn't drink in enough of each other, they would never get to do so again.

She broke away first. "_Mike_. Listen to me. I need to know. Do you... do you love me?"

He stared at her in disbelief. She quailed a little. "I know it's a lot to ask," she mumbled. "But I really don't know if I can go into another relationship without knowing and I-"

"T," he interrupted. "T, you have _no idea_ how much I am in love with you. You have _no idea_ how often I think about you, how much I've wanted to be with you for _months _now and how much it broke my heart to see that you were into another guy. I know," he began. "I _know_ how hard it must be after you and Artie just broke up and I know you're probably really skeptical of all boys in general right now but you have to understand that I promise," he said fiercely. "I swear to god I will treat you the way you deserve because you are so _worth it_ and I am so. Damn. In love with you. I will do anything for you because that's just how much you mean to me."

All he could see was her face breaking into a shaky smile. "I know, Mike. I know I can trust you." She reached up and placed her arms around his neck and he inhaled sharply as she leaned in and their noses were touching and all he knew was _Tina. _Tina, in all her glory had suddenly become part of him, part of his life in a way that he had only dreamed about. Their lips touched.

...

The weeks multiplied. Hazy days of swimming and movies in the main cabin whizzed by Tina's head and things came back into focus with Mike. They kept things cleaner than a whistle during the daytime, especially since there was no longer any tension in between them. They went about leading activities as normally as possible, with the occasional wink or knowing smile and it was _exciting_ the way they both knew that later that night they would sneak out to be together.

At night, they liked to meet by the woods, as it was far away from Anne's cabin and it was light enough so they could see each other. They spent hours sitting in the grass, talking like they used to when school was still in session. Except now, she liked to lie between his legs with her head resting on his chest and his hands were always tight around her waist or running through her hair and just overall touching her all the time as if he couldn't get enough of her which she _completely_ understood because sometimes they would be serving dinner and they would accidentally run into each other and he would be so close and giving her a crooked little smile that made her want to kiss him right then and there.

On one particular evening, they were sitting on the porch again with their hands intertwined and their legs touching.

"Do you ever get scared that one tiny decision you made in the past changed your life for the worse and if you didn't make that decision, your life would be _so_ much more different?" Tina mused out loud.

"Mmm, sure," Mike nodded. "But you have to keep in mind that those decisions shape us to be who we are. They define us, and there's always a reason why we made those decisions to begin with. You have to have faith in that." He took his hand away from hers and wrapped it over her shoulder instead.

"I guess, but sometimes I wonder how different my life would be if, say, I didn't join the glee club. Or if I decided to pick regular math instead of advanced," she joked.

"Well, you _are_ in the glee club and I think it makes you pretty happy and we all get to hear your lovely voice, so I say there's no loss there. And if you weren't in advanced math, you wouldn't have been in my math class and then I would never have given you my number," Mike reasoned. "And then you wouldn't be sitting here in my arms right now."

"Can't argue with that," Tina grinned.

"So maybe those-"

"_Mike?_"

...

Mike and Tina's heads jerked up to locate the voice. _No way._ Mike stood up abruptly at the middle-aged asian man in a crisp, black suit standing in front of them, eyes widened.

"_Dad_?" Mike spluttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I was around here for business and I thought I'd drop by. Is this who I think it is?" His eyes bore holes in Tina.

"_Dad_," Mike hissed. "You could do with being a little more polite."

Tina looked terrified. It took his greatest efforts not to hurry back to her side and hold her and comfort her, but he knew that wouldn't help matters right now.

"Is it?" His dad would not tear his gaze away from Tina.

Mike cleared his throat. "This is Tina. Cohen-Chang."

His dad swung around to face him, "And do you have an explanation as to why your arm was around Miss Cohen-Chang?"

Every word his dad had said to him at a dinner many months ago flashed to his mind. Every spiteful word against Tina's dad reverberated in his mind and he was very tempted to come up with an excuse to escape the terrorizing look that his dad was giving him but then he looked at _Tina_ and she was just looking so _scared_.

"She's my girlfriend."

"I think we should talk. Alone," his dad said curtly. "Miss Cohen-Chang, if you would excuse us for a few minutes."

"O-of course," Tina stammered.

As he and his father made their way down the trail that led to the woods, Mike vaguely imagined his father strangling his own son and leaving him to rot in the woods. Shaking the image from his mind, Mike spoke first. "Dad. I know you hate Tina's dad but I'd really prefer if you didn't let your business biases get in the way of Tina and me."

"Look, Mike. I expect you to carry out my business once I get too old for this career. I need you to be able to prioritize and understand that family and business come before anything else in life."

"No," Mike said slowly, "Business comes before anything else in _your_ life. Dad, believe me, I've thought about running the business in the future. I know that there are responsibilities. But please. I care about Tina. A lot. She's amazing and smart and funny and she's an incredible singer."

"I saw the way you were looking at her," his father shrugged. "I figured as much. And I can be reasonable about this. But I need you to keep your head on straight and remind yourself use your brain before your heart."

"Is that a blessing?" Mike half-joked, but his hands were damp with anxiety.

His dad sighed, "I don't know how you managed to pick the one girl who comes from the family I can't stand out of _all_ the girls in the universe. But I have to be logical about this."

Mike had always hated his father's obsession with logic. But this one time, it was saving him.

His dad started laughing.

"What?" Mike snapped defiantly, seeing nothing funny about the situation.

"I feel sorry for you. If I were you, I wouldn't be looking forward to the moment you have to meet her parents. She's a girl _and _her father hates me. I don't envy you at all," his father snickered.

"_Dad!_"

...

His dad left an hour later after straining to make casual conversation with Mike and Tina. Mike really appreciated the effort, however, and Tina relaxed a little when his dad asked her to sing something.

Mike watched Tina's cheeks color and say, embarrassed, "What do you want me to sing?"

"Anything," his dad said civilly.

Tina began to hum a couple of notes before beginning to sing and Mike watched her, engrossed with her beautiful, beautiful voice that waltzed in the air around them.

_Moon River, wider than a mile,_  
_I'm crossing you in style some day._  
_Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,_  
_wherever you're going I'm going your way._  
_Two drifters off to see the world._  
_There's such a lot of world to see._  
_We're after the same rainbow's end-_  
_waiting 'round the bend,_  
_my huckleberry friend,_  
_Moon River and me._

She finished sheepishly, her eyes darting from Mike to his dad in search for some type of response.

Mike's dad clapped, nodding, "You really are very good.

Tina blushed an even deeper red and it made Mike want to kiss her on her flushed cheeks so much. "Thanks, Mr. Chang," she said softly.

Civilized. They were being civilized and even though it was a little awkward, Mike felt a huge sense of relief washing over him.

...

"I've never been so nervous in my life," Tina breathed against Mike's neck. He was hugging her tight against him.

"Shhh, you were great," Mike reassured her. "I think your singing really won him over. Besides, you should feel sorry for _me_."

"Why?" she pulled away and blinked blankly.

"Because what about _your_ parents. This is only one hurdle and I bet your parents are thousands of times stricter than mine," Mike was whining.

Tina cracked up. "Mike Chang in fear. This is priceless. Hey, if both of our parents are okay with this... we can finally be a _real_ couple. Even at school!" Her mind flashed to the images of them dancing in glee club, holding hands in the hallway, even making out in empty classrooms.

"Very true," he smiled. "And I'll get to tell everyone you're my girlfriend."

"And I'll get to do this all the time," Tina said softly, pulling his face close to hers as she molded his lips with his, ran her fingers through his soft hair and he's suddenly got his lips on her neck and his tongue starts to travel to right behind her ear, swirling it in little patterns and she can't help but shiver with pleasure.

"Sounds good to me," he whispered in her ear and she relished each breath that traveled out of his mouth.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This one is slightly more... risqué. I'm thinking of changing the rating to M but not completely sure yet. Anyway, thanks everyone for the great reviews and hope you enjoy! :)**

* * *

Summer was winding down. With only a week left, Tina and Mike found themselves alone more and more frequently. Anne would always roll her eyes whenever she released the two of them from their duties and they would dash away to the lake or the woods. Thank god for Anne's leniency.

Mike found that the more time he spent with Tina, the more he was astounded by the fact that it _was _possible to be more into her. At first, he thought he had reached some sort of peak when she had first kissed him but then she would rake her fingers down his bare chest and the new sensation would drive him crazy. And then they would be working on a new craft with the kids and she would catch his gaze and lock it there and she would teasingly run her tongue across her bottom lip and then clamp it between her teeth. And this is when Mike realizes that the shy Tina he had known was only one dimension to a very complex Tina that could be sweet and soft-spoken with the kids but then send him flirty winks just to screw with his brain. At one point, she squeezed his thigh. Not just his thigh. Very, very high up his thigh and very, very close to his groin. As her fingers trailed down his leg before it left him completely. He took in a very sharp breath and his fingers twitched. Twitched because he wanted to touch her the way she did to him. One thing he was certain of. He was very much in love with this new side of Tina. This new side that took his entire summer by storm and this new side that he simply couldn't get enough of.

"I'm going to miss this place," Tina said wistfully one day as they sat on the sand by the lake. She was digging her fingers into the sand and watching Mike.

"Really? I mean, in less than two days, there will be no more screaming asian children begging for their cellphones back. No more Anne's eagle eyes watching us when all we want to do is be alone," Mike grinned, bumping his shoulder against hers.

"Yeah, but we get to spend so much time together here," she said, making a soft humming noise that he had grown to love. "And we made a lot of memories here, you know? Our first kiss," she smiled, leaning over to kiss his cheek and he immediately responded by turning his head to match her lips with his.

"Mmm, true," Mike mumbled into Tina's hair. _Strawberry and coconut_. God, if she ever changed her shampoo, he would probably have to go on strike. Call him crazy, but he would literally get online and order five bottles of it if he had to.

Tina nestled her head in between his chest and chin and he lifted his arms to envelop her. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you, too, T."

...

Tina was all packed up. She had almost forgotten to pack away her books that had been carelessly tossed underneath her bed. The kids were outside greeting their parents, who were all critically checking to see if they had their phones out. With one last surveying sweep of her vision across the cabin to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything, she heaved her duffel bag over her shoulder and dragged her suitcases behind her as she pushed the door open with her shoulder.

The kids were all climbing into their respective cars, and she spotted Anne shaking hands with some parents who were chatting animatedly with each other. Mike was greeting some of the parents as well, with a certain charm that Tina knew would serve him to his advantage in the future. She smiled.

As the last car pulled away and Anne's polite expression melted from her face and she turned to her and Mike and said, "Finally. I love running this camp but I feel like I've been here for an eternity."

Tina nodded, "Agreed. Hey, did my parents say when they were coming to pick me up?"

Anne raised an eyebrow, "Your mom called yesterday and said that they were picking up both you and Mike today at noon."

Tina's eyes practically fell out of their sockets. "_What_?"

"Yeah, _what_?" Mike spluttered, his face instantly turning pale and ashen. "_Tina_, I don't think I'm ready to meet your parents!"

Anne chuckled, "Don't ask me. Hey I think that's them!"

An off-white mini-van drove down the path and screeched to a halt in front of them. Tina stared as her parents got out of the car. Her mom was wringing her hands, looking extremely nervous. Her father, however, had an expression on his face that she swear to god could have burned through sheet metal.

"Mom! Daddy! Hi!" She said as cheerfully as she could manage. "Umm... why are you bringing Mike back, too?"

"To save gas," his dad shrugged, "It's a long drive from here to Lima."

Tina and Mike shared a confused look. "How...did you know he was here?"

"His father contacted me a week ago to tell me that he was here with you." Her father's voice was rather steely, even though he hadn't said anything hostile so far. "Come on, put your luggage in the trunk." He opened up the trunk for them, his eyes focused intently on Mike, who, the poor guy, was so white in the face that he looked as if he could pass out any second.

"Yes sir," Mike said hastily, picking up Tina's luggage first in what was with no doubt an attempt to show his chivalrous side. Plus five points for Mike, Tina thought to herself. She watched as Mike hoisted the luggage into the car by himself while the rest of the Cohen-Changs just stood there and watched.

...

Mike straightened and stuck his hound our for Mr. Cohen-Chang to shake.. "I'm Mike, sir. Mike Chang. It's very nice to meet you."

He stared at Mike's hand without a word, then took it very slowly. His grip was insanely, _insanely_ strong. Mike did his best not to wince, not to show any signs of weakness.

"Nice to meet you, Mike," Mr. Cohen-Chang said. Was he being civil? Did Mike sense a hint of hatred in Mr. Cohen-Chang's voice? Was he just imagining it? Oh god, he was starting to sweat. Did it go unnoticed?

"Your daughter is very incredible," Mike offered as they climbed into the car, Tina and Mike in the back with Mr. Cohen-Chang at the wheel and Mrs. Cohen-Chang in the passenger seat. He racked his brain for things to say, things that would win over Tina's parents because god what if they hated him and it would have been entirely his fault that he and Tina couldn't be together?

"She is," Mr. Cohen-Chang agreed. "Why don't you tell us a little about yourself, Mike?"

Stupefied by the question, Mike blinked rapidly before managing a string of jumbled sentences. "I- uh, I play football for McKinley High and I'm part of the glee club, too. I'm a dancer, mostly." Asians. Asians liked school. Asians approved of academics. Mike stammered, "My favorite subject in school is math because I like to solve problems and Tina's in that class."

He looked over at Tina, who was looking like she was enjoying herself. "Seriously?" she mouthed, a coy smile on her lips. He shot her an offended look but was distracted when Mr. Cohen-Chang speak again.

"And you like being with Tina?"

"Very, very much so, sir," Mike insisted. His palms were so clammy. So very clammy and he kept wiping them on his shorts because he felt like he was going to start dripping if he wasn't careful.

Mr. Cohen-Chang looked at his wife and they exchanged some sort of married couple secret language telepathy and he turned back to look at Mike for a fraction of a second before turning his attention back on the road. "And you don't think you two are too young to be with each other all the time?"

Mike's eyes widened, at a loss for what to say. _Shit, how do you respond to this type of question_? "I think I enjoy Tina's company much, much more so than that of others and I think I will treat her with the utmost respect and care. I think we're still young but we're not too young for me to be able to treat her the way she deserves."

He did his best not to smile when Tina beamed at him, since he was pretty sure that Mr. Cohen-Chang could see him in the rear-view mirror.

Was he satisfied with Mike's answer? Did he think Mike sounded like an idiot? Mike waited and waited, but Mr. Cohen-Chang said nothing. Total silence. For a painful amount of time. Before he knew it, Tina had fallen asleep on his shoulder and at some point, he crashed as well, his hands still damp with unsettled anxiety.

...

"Mike. Mike, wake up."

Mike jolted in his sleep and opened his eyes. Somehow, _he_ had ended up on _her_ shoulder and when he woke up, he realized that they were at his house. How her parents knew where he lived was completely beyond him, but it scared him a little.

"This is you," Mr. Cohen-Chang announced.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Cohen-Chang. Mrs. Cohen-Chang," he nodded respectfully to both of Tina's parents. Her dad nodded back but her mom shot him an encouraging smile. "Bye, Tina," he smiled at Tina, who was watching him very affectionately.

As he pulled his luggage out of the car and waved to the Cohen-Changs while they drove away, Mike released a long, relieved breath that he had been holding in for a very, very long time. _I'm safe. I'm safe, right? Everything will be okay. I think._

...

Tina: hey let's go out tonight  
Mike: seriously? your parents okay with it?  
Tina: got their official blessing today :)  
Mike: picking you up tonight- let's go out to dinner  
Tina: sounds perfect. :)

...

Tina was nervous. It was weird, since she and Mike had spent the past two months closer than they had ever been and suddenly, things were all formal and official and they were going out on a real _date, _for god's sake and suddenly she felt like she was under a spotlight. She pulled on her favorite black dress, the one with the small silver beading and the lace fake petticoat that kept the skirt of the dress floaty and light. She fastened a silver pendant around her neck and stabbed a pair of shiny pearls into her ears. She grabbed her windbreaker and zipped it up over her dress even though it wasn't fancy at all but it was comfortable and that was what mattered at the moment. God she was so nervous. Her hands were sweating. She fished her black purse from her closet and hurried down the stairs.

Mike: i'm here! on your driveway :)

"Mom! I'm leaving!" She called out. Her dad was out on business today but her mom was downstairs watching Korean dramas on the computer.

"Okay. Don't be out too late," her mom warned.

"I know!"

Tina rushed out the front door, slipping into a pair of black heels. Her boots really didn't work with this dress, even if she always insisted that they went with everything. But then again, she didn't really wear dresses like on a normal basis, either. She had to dig up the heels from her basement, where they were gathering dust. Sure enough, Mike was in his big SUV on her driveway and she could see his huge grin through the tinted windows.

She opened up the passenger side door and bounded in. "Hi!" She planted a kiss on his cheek and unzipped her jacket and let it fall onto the chair.

"Hi Ti- wow." He was staring. Staring at her and there was something so embarrassingly flattering about it that she tried not to blush and instead used it to her advantage.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" she feigned innocence.

She was going to enjoy the night, she noted with a smirk, as Mike continued to stare without a single word to spare.

...

_Tina. _He was only a little aware of the traffic signals, of the cars on the road as his mind began to travel at top speeds. When she had taken her jacket off, all he could see was that _dress_ and the way it dipped at her breasts and how there were no straps holding it up, revealing nothing but her creamy skin from fingertip to fingertip and everything in between. A silver necklace rested on her neck and its pendant dipped tantalizingly into her cleavage and all he can do is follow it as she moves because each time she moves even a little, her dress shifts a little and he is treated with a new view. And, as he looks down to drink more of her in, her legs are completely bare and she must have just shaved her legs or something because they're gleaming in such a sexy, sexy way that he just wants to trail his fingers up and down them and be able to feel how long and glorious they are. And, _god_, she's wearing _heels_. _Hot_ heels that had at least two inches on them and they framed her small feet perfectly and somehow even her _feet_ managed to be sexy.

"Where are we going for dinner?" she broke his reverie.

"I was thinking maybe we could go to the new seafood place in town," he croaked as he finally peeled his eyes away from her and started up the ignition.

"Sounds great," she said cheerfully, clearly enjoying herself.

This is what she had become over the summer. _Such a tease_. It blew his mind the way she could do the smallest things and drive him absolutely crazy with it. It made sense, as she first captured his interest in the first place with the simplest little movements.

They drove in silence for a while, but he suddenly felt her hand reach for his over the gear shift and he looked over at her and she was smiling. He tightened his grasp on her hand and stroked it gently with his free finger. "I missed you today," he laughed. "Is that weird? Only a day goes by and I'm already missing you?"

"That's not weird at all," she assured him. "I told you, being around each other all the time before was so great and now that summer is winding down and I'm just at home by myself it's feeling kind of lonely."

Mike nodded and took a deep breath and was able to take in every note of her flowery perfume. She was slaughtering him. Absolutely slaughtering him and somehow, he managed to get them to the restaurant, where he had made reservations, and they were seated in a booth way in the back and even though they were sitting across from each other which technically meant that they were very close, he wanted so much to be closer.

"I think I'm going to order an angel hair pasta with shrimp," she declared to the waitress, folding up her menu resolutely and gazing expectantly at him. "What about you?"

"I'll have the seafood deluxe," Mike said, handing both menus to the waitress so that she could leave and it could just be him and Tina. She was already playing footsie with him underneath the table which was so cute that he felt like he needed to have her right then and there- he'd trade whatever lobster dinner this joint had for that night just completely alone with Tina.

"You look amazing tonight," Mike breathed when the waitress finally_, finally_ left.

"Are you saying I don't normally look amazing?"

She's kidding, obviously, and it doesn't surprise him because he probably just feeds her with ego boosts but the best part about it is she's still comfortable in her body in the sense that she still isn't big-headed in any way at all.

"I'm saying you look especially incredible today," Mike smiled, taking her hand over the table.

She smiled her appreciation and sighed. "Not to break the mood or anything, but I can't believe school starts in less than a week. I need more summer. I need more days out on the lake when we could just sunbathe and not worry about grades or getting slushied or anything else."

"You won't get slushied anymore," Mike said confidently.

"What? What do you mean?"

"There's no way in hell I'm letting anyone slushy you. I'll beat them to a pulp if I have to," Mike said fiercely.

Tina laughed. Laughed her sweet, refreshing laugh that always gave him the chills. "Mike, you're in the glee club, too. You're going to get slushied sometime soon, too. It's inevitable."

"I don't care if _I_ get slushied," Mike rolled his eyes. "But if anyone soils a single one of your great outfits that I know you spend a great amount of time on in the mornings, I swear to god, they won't be seeing daylight for the next week."

Tina was shaking her head, clearly amused. "So is this it? Is our relationship going public at school? Will you be even more ridiculed because you will be officially dating a goth chick from glee club instead of a Cheerio, the way social order dictates?"

Mike narrowed his eyes, "I've _been_ officially dating you, T. And who the hell cares about social order? If I cared, I wouldn't be in glee club. I wouldn't be with you. But I _am_ because there are more important things, more important _people_ than social order. I love you, Tina. Why shouldn't we be able to public about our relationship just like anyone else at school?"

Tina was watching him. Her eyes were sparkling, flashing that warm caramel tone that he loved. "You are quite the boyfriend, Mike Chang."

Damn straight he would be if his girlfriend was Tina Cohen-Chang.


	10. Chapter 10

They had planned in advance for Mike to pick her up to bring her to school on the first day. They had arrived to school without any drama, any issues. Not that Tina expected to get ambushed by paparazzi or anything, but she half expected to get both her and Mike's asses tossed into a dumpster the moment they arrived at school together. Instead, they walked from the parking lot toward their first class together- trigonometry. A _math_ class. When she and Mike had compared schedules the night before school started, they both found it kinda fateful that they had math together again this year. Besides math, they had English and glee together, but that was it.

Jacob Israel leaped in front of them before they could get into their class. Of course it would be Jacob. He _was_ the school's paparazzi. Tina braced herself for whatever rash comment Jacob was ready to retort. However, when she noticed the microphone in Jacob's hand, she furrowed her brow in confusion.

"What can you say about the rumors that the two of you are dating?" Jacob was backtracking in his steps as Tina and Mike walked as quickly as possible in order to get away.

"Because we're both asian?" Tina snapped. "That's racist."

"Totally racist," Mike agreed. Jacob finally backed off and Tina and Mike slid into their classroom.

She took his hand in hers and shot him a smile that he returned with a wink. She barely even noticed when Artie wheeled past them and out of the took their seats. It was going to be quite a year.

...

Glee club's reaction to their new relationship was relatively still and uneventful. Mercedes shrieked her fair share when she found Tina and Mike's fingers interlaced. As Mike let Tina and Mercedes catch up on their summers- which mostly consisted of Tina whispering about asian camp with Mike- Mike turned his attention to the rest of the club. Puck shot him a thumbs up and Finn gave him a head nod, which kind of made him miss Matt, who had moved away from Lima. Matt would have been more excited about his new relationship. The Cheerios couldn't have cared less, but Artie. Artie was glaring at them with what was an unmistakable hint of jealousy. Mike averted his gaze immediately. Though Artie was admittedly handicapped, there was something very threatening about the expression on his face.

Glee rehearsal was normal- Mr. Schuester talked about how necessary it was to expand the club because of their loss at regionals last year. Mike was finding it difficult to concentrate when Tina was so close. She was sitting so close to him that he wanted very badly to be touching her the entire time.

...

After glee rehearsal, everyone had pretty much left. Tina felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Mike. He didn't say a word. Instead, he turned on the boombox that was perched on the piano and _What I Did For Love_ came on. Tina smiled. She loved this song.

"May I have this dance, Miss Cohen-Chang?" He held out his hand courteously with a sly smile on his face.

"Of course, Mr. Chang," she matched his polite tone and laughed heartily as he twirled her around. Their relationship had come so far, she mused, and she realized something as Mike suddenly scooped her up in his arms and she watched his cheery, laughing face. This was the happiest she had been in a very, very long time.

Happier than Artie, anyway, who was watching, unnoticed, from afar, a half-venomous, half-somber expression on his face.

...

"Mike! We're in a library!" Tina hissed, giggling despite her dismay.

He had been nipping kisses on her neck, softly enough to avoid giving her a hickey but intensely enough so that she shivered each time his lips touched her skin. "So? We're in a tutoring room. No one can _really_ see us."

"And we're never gonna be allowed to use a tutoring room again if you keep this up."

Mike pouted, "But I'm enjoying myself." Her leg was perched on top of one of his and hooked under his other one. They were working on trig homework together at the public library. Or at least, that's what they had told their parents. They were getting very little trig actually done, however, as Mike kept nosing his way back into Tina's vision when she tried to focus on their assignment.

"You are the worst study buddy ever," she laughed. Patiently, though. He let her laughter sink into his ears the way he always loved to because it made him feel closer to her.

He frowned, hurt. "The worst?"

"The least productive," she corrected herself.

"I can live with that," he grinned, reaching to pull her closer to him. "I'd say you're the most beautiful study buddy ever," he said softly, inching his face closer to hers.

"I'm flattered," she whispered, leaning in to capture his lips and just like that, in a matter of milliseconds, he melted and couldn't remember where they were or what they were supposed to be doing. All he remembered was her lips, her scent, her warmth as he sucked gently on her lip and her tongue snaked its way into his mouth.

_Knock, knock, knock._ The knocking was urgent, irritated.

They pulled away at lightning speed and Mike looked up. A very annoyed librarian was tapping her foot, her eyes narrowed at their behavior. Tina immediately blushed but Mike just grinned. "Sorry," he mouthed to the librarian. In a huff, she stormed away. Mike caught Tina's eye, reducing each other into a fit of giggles.

...

They had a certain routine now. They would spend their day at school, occasionally reaching for each other's hands, kind of in a way to reassure the other that they were still there. They would go throughout the day sending each other covert looks and sometimes Mike would waggle his eyebrows at her and her stomach would start doing somersaults. Then there would be glee, and because Mr. Schuester had realized that they were dating, they often became dancing partners during rehearsals. He would spin her around and dip her so close to the ground that her free hair would touch the floor and sometimes it just felt like she was floating. But it was after glee, when they were to leave school, that had become particularly special. His parents worked late, so he would bring her over to his house and they would watch TV together or she would teach him how to bake cookies or brownies because despite his incredible ability to make grilled cheeses, he was a klutz with baked goods, always fumbling around with the flour or baking soda. They would then have to eat their own baked goods in their attempts to avoid leaving evidence of her presence for his parents to scrutinize. The cookies would always be extremely hot and they would burn their tongues and laugh and seconds later, their burnt tongues would be hooked together and his lips would crash down on hers.

"You're getting me fat," Tina pouted when Mike suggested that she teach him how to bake a pie since apple pie was his favorite and he specifically went to the store to buy a can of apple pie filling.

"No! Don't say that, you're not fat," Mike insisted. "I love the way you look. The way you dress. Everything about you." He traced his hand down her body, along the swell of her hips and finally dragged her to him. "I just really like apple pies." He gave her a goofy grin and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Fine, fine," Tina conceded. "But can we do that tomorrow?"

"Why?" Mike blinked.

"Because I had something else planned for us today," Tina whispered, taking his hand and dragging him out of the kitchen. They somehow landed on the couch in a haze of movements that she could barely remember but the next moment she was suddenly straddling him and his eyes were clouded over with some type of frenzied desire or maybe she was just imagining it since that's all she could feel at that moment. Their lips locked again; somehow they always managed to find each other and Tina was so, so addicted to the sensation. And the next half hour was just pure bliss- she soaked up the heat that he radiated and was blinded by her own need to have him right now and indefinitely from then on.

...

Tina: today sucked :(  
Mike: why what happened?  
Tina: parents grounded me for failing the last english exam  
Mike: what a terrible asian you are ;)  
Tina: not you too!  
Mike: kidding :) you okay?  
Tina: i guess. just feeling kinda down  
Tina: mike?  
Tina: hello?  
Mike: i'm outside  
Tina: what? it's like 2 in the morning!  
Mike: so? come outside :)  
Tina: you're gonna get me in so much trouble, mike chang

...

His car was pretty cold and all, but Mike couldn't care less. His eyes were trained on the Cohen-Changs' front door as he waited for Tina to come outside. When she did, he had to rub his eyes a little to make sure he wasn't dreaming. She was wearing a nightgown. A _nightgown_. _Damn_. Granted, Tina didn't really seem like a ratty t-shirt and pajama pants kind of girl but he _really_ didn't expect to see a lacy black scrap of fabric covering her body. Her facial expression was priceless, though.

"_Mike_," she hissed as she tip-toed into his car from the passenger seat. "What are you doing here?"

"You said you weren't feeling too hot," Mike reasoned. "And my parents are heavy sleepers."

"Yeah, well mine aren't! You really shouldn't be here this late. Especially with me being grounded."

Mike reached out to cradle her face with his hand. "So?"

Tina just shook her head. "What's your big plan? What are you gonna do now that you're here?"

"Hold you? Kiss you?" Mike grinned, knowing he was being stupid but there was some sort of thrill with being so stupid.

She rolled her eyes, "_Miiiike_. Here's your kiss," she swooped in and took his mouth with hers. "And mmf," she reached over to hug him awkwardly over the gear shift, "here's your holding. Now you really should go before my parents ground me for the rest of my life."

"Fine, fine. You just don't appreciate this," he teased.

"Mike. I'm serious. _Go_." She clambered out of the car and he rolled down his window.

"Sleep tight, T. I love you."

"You are so dumb."

"You love me."

He laughed, feeling more awake than he had ever felt before at 2 in the morning as he watched her roll her eyes and fail to hide her growing smile.

...

His first slushy came two days after the night he had driven over to Tina's house. He had been walking to trig- alone, this time, as Tina's dad had dropped her off at school that day on his way to work- when suddenly, he saw a red flash of two letterman jackets. Azimio and Karofsky. Of course.

"Hey guys," he nodded his usual guy-head-nod, but received no response.

"What's up, Chang? Hey, I heard you're dating that goth chick from glee club? What's the matter? Couldn't find anyone normal?" Azimio snickered at what he probably thought was a clever remark.

"Watch it, Azimio," Mike said softly. He could feel his temper boiling.

"You know what? I don't think I feel comfortable with you telling me to 'watch it'. Here, we'll give you something to watch," Karofsky sneered.

And the next thing he knew, he could only see red. Literally. The ice from the slushy slashed at the skin at his face and suddenly his eyes were shut and all he could feel was the sticky coldness that the slushy caused, he was dripping, dripping and all he could think of was punching the living daylights out of Azimio for talking smack about his girlfriend- though he was right, Tina definitely wasn't normal, but in the most incredible, fantastic way- and by the time he had swiped the syrupy mess away from his eyes, they were long gone.

"Damn it. _Damn it,_" he muttered, storming off toward his class, feeling the slushy work its way down into his shirt.

"Mike?" It was Tina. He had long since memorized her soft, golden voice and this time it was laced with concern. "_Mike_. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I gotta wash this off. I'll see you after trig, okay?"

"No, I'm coming with you."

"Forget it, T. I'm not gonna make you skip class because of some artificially flavored ice."

"Come on, we can go to the girls' locker room- no one will be there." Tina looked genuinely worried as she took his sticky red hand and dragged him behind her.

Sighing, he followed her as she pushed open the door to the locker room. "Tina, don't give me that look. I'm fine."

She rolled her eyes. "Sit," she instructed as she pulled the bench closer to the sink.

"You can't tell me what to do," he teased, but then it kind of reminded him of what Karofsky had said earlier so he clamped his mouth shut tight again.

He watched as Tina opened her bag and produced a white washcloth that was faintly stained with a variety of colors- red, purple, green...

"Do you have a washcloth in your bag for the sole purpose of cleaning off slushies?"

"Yep," Tina nodded. "It's come in handy, so don't give me that tone. Come here. Lean your head against the sink and I'll get it all out."

He did as he was told and watched his girlfriend patiently run her washcloth under water and then rub it gently across his skin. It was warm. Warmer than her hand that was cradling his face as she soaked up the sticky juice from his face. "Thanks, Tina."

"You're not supposed to thank me. This is my duty."

He laughed, "I don't think it was under the job description of being my girlfriend to wash my face when I get slushied."

"Being your girlfriend isn't a job. It's a privilege."

She said it so simply, so delicately that he almost didn't know what to say. "I like to think that we're on level footing in our relationship. No one is no one else's privilege." Even though he said that lightly, he secretly didn't really mean it. Getting to be Tina's boyfriend- yes, _getting_ to be- was more than a privilege. It was an honor. An honor that he never planned on screwing up because it was too damn important to him. But the last thing he was going to do was insult her fiery, feminist side and cause her to be mad at him because he thought of the relationship in a different way.

"Fine," Tina agreed, wiping away the last of the slushy. "Come on, let's get you out of this t-shirt. It's completely stained."

"You just want to see me without a shirt on," he joked.

She laughed, "So? Added bonus. Fine, I'll do it myself." She reached over and pulled the shirt gently over his head, then immediately leaned in to kiss him.

"Thanks for cleaning me off, T," he mumbled into her lips.

She pulled back a little, "I'd clean a thousand slushies off your face, Mike Chang."

He laughed and took her hands in his. "Thanks, love."


	11. Chapter 11

They were sitting in an ice cream parlor and Mike's legs were wrapped protectively around hers underneath the table. He was devouring strawberry while she made quick work with chocolate chip cookie dough. She was humming a few bars from a Rent song he vaguely recognized.

"I think you should get more solos," Mike said suddenly.

Tina laughed, "Why?"

"Because you're amazing," he insisted earnestly. To be honest, he thinks she's the best singer in the entire world and sometimes he wished he could just soak up every moment when they're together and she's singing softly next to his ear and it just gives him chills the way her voice dances.

"That's a biased opinion," she dismissed his claim. "You, my dear, are just saying that." She pointed her spoon at him accusingly.

He grinned and caught her spoon in his mouth, catching her by surprise. "I'm not!" he mumbled, his mouth encumbered by the plastic spoon. He released it and said more clearly. "Seriously, T. You're an incredible singer. I don't get why you don't get more solos. Maybe I'll talk to Mr. Schue."

This caused her to crack up. "Mike, he's not going to listen to my boyfriend beg for more solos. If he wants me to sing a solo, then so be it. If not, then I'm just as happy singing background vocals. It's really not a big deal."

"Sing something for me," Mike requested abruptly.

"What do you want me to sing?" She had on this amused expression but her eyes were sparkling and he knew that she was enjoying this.

"Anything. Your favorite song."

She tapped her chin in thought for a moment before beginning. She sang softly, as she probably didn't want to attract the attention of the other customers in the parlor.

_We kiss in a shadow,_  
_We hide from the moon,_  
_Our meetings are few,_  
_And over too soon._  
_We speak in a whisper,_  
_Afraid to be heard;_  
_When people are near,_  
_We speak not a word._  
_Alone in our secret,_  
_Together we sigh,_  
_For one smiling day to be free_  
_To kiss in the sunlight_  
_And say to the sky:_  
_"Behold and believe what you see!_  
_Behold how my lover loves me!"_

_God_ he loved her voice. "You're amazing," he declared, wrapping his hand around hers. "Is that your favorite song?"

"I'm not sure," Tina said thoughtfully. "I've always liked it a lot. And then over the summer, it reminded me of you and me. So I guess it has a special place in my heart, yes."

Mike stares at this woman, this wonderful woman before him who is just so mind-blowingly talented and sometimes he honest-to-god can't remember what he did or how he ever came to deserve her but he's grateful. So unbelievably grateful because she is _his _in as real of a way possible.

"Well, tell you what," he finally spoke up. "You might not get too many solos in glee club, but if you ever feel like singing one, come find me and I'll listen to you all day long."

Tina threw back her head and laughed her airy laugh, "Deal."

...

Mike was eating dinner with his mom one evening when she, to his surprise, suddenly brought up Tina.

"I want to see her again. And more often."

"What?" Mike blinked, not understanding.

"Tina. I want to see her more. You two go out on dates all the time and I have no idea what she's like." Her mom frowned. "I want to get to know this girl that my son is dating."

Taken aback, Mike shrugged. "Sure thing. The three of us can go out sometime."

...

Going out for with his mom and Tina was actually very, very comfortable, as weird as that sounded. They ordered little dishes to share and his mom chatted animatedly about Tina's involvement in music, about how pretty Tina's hair was (as if he didn't know), or just little things and Tina was great with her, too. They would engage in deep conversations about everything and sometimes his mom would bring up embarrassing stories of the silly things Mike would do as a kid. Boy did Tina get a good laugh out of those. They actually grew pretty close and Mike almost felt like a third wheel in a very weird relationship at some points. His mom was clearly having the time of her life- he had never seen her so cheerful before, and Tina was clearly enjoying each and every embarrassing story that his mother let slip.

"I like her a lot, Mike," his mom announced after Mike had dropped Tina off at home.

"Me, too, mom." Mike was very amused. "Me, too."

...

Their nights out with his mom somehow multiplied. Each time he was planning on going out for the night with Tina, his mom had glued herself to them as well and somehow managed to drag them to her favorite dim sum place. One night, he finally folded his arms in exasperation. "Mom, can't the two of us just go out alone?"

His mom's face fell. "I- I'm sorry. Your father's not home for dinner tonight...and I really like going with you two."

"I know, mom," Mike sighed. "But Tina and I are in a relationship and we'd both really appreciate some alone time."

"Sorry," his mom said softly. "I guess I just got a little caught up in the fun."

"It's fine," he shrugged. "You can come with us tonight, since you've already got dressed and everything."

...

Tina: meet me in the library- we're talking duets, mister  
Mike: ma'am yes ma'am!

...

They met outside the library doors and Tina pounced on him. "We're doing the duet together."

"What?" his shocked expression annoyed her a little. Did he not think that she wanted them to do this duet as a couple? "You don't want a good singer as your partner?"

"No, I want _you_ as my partner," Tina pressed. "Come on, think about it! Hours of rehearsal together and we'd finally be able to perform, just the two of us."

"Okay," he grinned. "Can I choreograph my own part? I'm thinking it'll have to be pretty epic to match your singing."

"_What_? No! You're singing with me!"

It was his turn to incredulously respond, "_What_? Are you serious, Tina? I don't wanna do it."

"We're duet partners, you have to sing!" Tina insisted as they walked into the library.

"I don't even know if I _can_ sing," Mike's voice dropped to a whisper. "Everyone knows I'm here to do one thing. _Dance_. You sing and I'll dance around you. We'll be fine!"

"No! No, we're singing together! We are gonna win that dinner at Breadstix and...then we can finally have a normal night out."

"Normal? What do you mean? We went out last night," he cocked his head in confusion.

"For dim sum. With your _mom_. All we ever do is get _dim sum_ with your _mom_."

"Heeere we go," Mike sighed. The two women in his life, battling for the complete opposite. He'd have to reason with Tina as well.

"Look, I'm not saying that steamed pork knuckles aren't delicious. I'm just saying that at Breadstix, they have bottomless salad bowls. They refill your salad until you leave or pass out."

_Salad_? Is this all she was worried about? Not the whole issue with spending time with his mother? Girls were weird...

"You can get salad at dim sum," he assured her. "My mom got salad last night!"

"There were chicken feet in it! It was a _chicken feet salad_. All I want is a normal salad that doesn't have chicken feet in it!" Tina's voice lowered to a bit of a feral growl and Mike recoiled a little. It couldn't have just been about the salad, he sighed. No one reacts to just _salad_ like this.

"Look, Tina. This is kind of just a misunderstanding. My mom-"

"No! Not your mom. I just want a normal night out with the two of us. _Not your mom_."

"You're not listening to me," Mike pressed.

"_You_ don't care about my needs!" Tina swung around to face him. God, she was kind of frightening when she's mad. And a little sexy, too, if at all possible.

"_Tina_. Listen." He silenced himself for a second when the library passed by them to _shhh _them. "Look," he started again. "My mom just really wanted to meet you again and after a while, she really grew to like you. I haven't been bringing her on purpose. And don't worry, I just talked to her last night- she won't be joining us on our dates anymore." Mike smiled, "Just the two of us, okay?"

Tina's rage cooled for a second as she stared back at him. She plopped down on a cushioned chair and looked up at him. "I-I'm sorry, Mike." She buried her face in her hands, flushing red.

He quickly knelt in front of her. "Hey. _Hey. _T, it's okay. It's my fault. I shouldn't have brought her out with us more than once. It's just that, well... She almost likes you as much as I do," he grinned.

That got a smile out of her. "Oh, god, Mike, I'm sorry. I really do like your mom. I just- I guess I've been really reminiscent of summer lately and I miss the hours and hours we used to spend together alone and with school and glee and _everything_ I've really just wanted to spend every possible moment alone with you. Something in me just snapped."

"It's okay," he insisted, taking her hands in his. "Tina, I'll take you out for sushi tonight, okay? Just you and me, and we can go to the frozen yogurt place downtown that you like. And T, we can do this duet together. I just don't know if my singing is going to help us win that Breadstix dinner, which believe me, I want to take you to."

Tina's lips curled into a smile. "I have an idea."

...

Mike could feel his heart beat not only in his chest but pounding in his head and shaking every limb of his body in a way that dance had never created.

"Whenever you're ready, guys," Mr. Schue's voice was laced with impatience.

He was so aware of every pair of eyes from each member of the club just staring them down and his hands were sweating but they had gone so numb that he could barely feel them. _Just do it. Do it for Tina._

_"See I really couldn't sing_  
_I could never really sing_  
_What I couldn't do was..."_  
_"...Sing!"_ Tina completed his sentence perfectly with her gorgeous voice.  
_"I have trouble with a..."_  
_"..Note."_ With each word Tina sang, it emboldened him a little more, it reminded him of each time she had sung to him and somehow the reminder comforted his nerves.  
_"It goes all around my..."_  
_"..Throat."_  
_"It's a terrifying..."_  
_"...Thing."_

_"See, I really couldn't hear_  
_Which not was lower or was..."_  
_"...Higher."_ God, her voice was so pretty.  
_"If someone says, 'Let's start a...'"_  
_"...Choir"_  
_"Hey, when I begin to..."_  
_"...Squeak."_  
_"It's a cross between a..."_  
_"...Shriek."_  
_"And a quiver or a..."_  
_"..Moan."_ The way Tina sang the word moan and the way she actually moaned were actually a little similar. He thought back to moments when he'd be tracing kisses up and down her body and when he'd stop to suck gently on her soft skin and the little noise that escaped her lips and- _really not the time to think about this._  
_"It's a little like a..."_  
_"...Croak."_  
_"Or the record player..."_  
_...Broke."_  
_"What its doesn't have is..."_  
_"...Tone."_

_"Oh I know you're thinking_  
_What a crazy..."_  
_"...Dingaling."_ He watched her spin on the chair, holding that sweet note in the air.  
_"But I really couldn't..."_  
_"...Sing."_  
_"I could never really..."_  
_"...Sing."_  
_"What I couldn't do was..."_  
_...Sing!"_

His confidence started building as he leaped onto a chair.

_"But what I lack in pitch I sure_  
_Make up in..."_  
_"...Power."_  
_"And all my friends say I am_  
_Perfect for the_  
_SHOWER!"_ He looked at Tina, whose eyes were wrinkled with a suppressed smile.

They finished up the number with a grand flourish and the group exploded with applause. Ecstatic with both himself and the incredible girl in front of him, he looked down at her and enveloped her in a huge hug. "You were amazing," he whispered in her ear.

"No, Mike. _You_ were amazing."

* * *

**A/N: So I feel like this chapter deserves a little bit of explanation. So far, I've been pretty good about keeping the outer layer of the story consistent with the actual episodes of Glee, but this time around, I deleted a couple of lines (such as that asian therapy one and the one when Tina asks to be Artie's partner, mostly because I didn't want her to even think about asking Artie for help because I'm such a Tike shipper ^.^) This wasn't my favorite chapter, and I feel like it still needs some tweaking, so I might come back to this later.**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed nonetheless and let me know what you thought!**


	12. Chapter 12

When Mike had volunteered to play the transvestite in the Rocky Horror Show that they were putting on, Tina could feel her heart swell with pride. This was her boyfriend. Her boyfriend, who she had to persuade to sing a duet with her, offering to play the _male lead_ in Rocky Horror. After glee rehearsal on their way to Mike's car, she brought it up.

"I'm so proud of you!" Tina beamed. "Surprised, but definitely, definitely proud."

As they got into his car, he laughed. "Don't worry, I"m surprised at myself, too. And don't tell my girlfriend," he winked, "but I did it for her."

Tina could feel her cheeks grow warm, "Well, I'm sure your girlfriend is very flattered."

"I'm not as familiar with the musical as you are, though," Mike said thoughtfully. "Maybe you can rehearse some of the numbers with me?"

"Yeah, definitely!" Tina agreed.

"Great, how about tomorrow after school?" Mike suggested. "I have a dentist appointment right now, so I'm going to have to drop you off at home right now."

"Aww no sexy time today?" Tina teased, kissing him gently on the cheek while he drove, running her fingers up and down his thigh.

"Don't tease, T," he warned. "Otherwise I'm going to have to come up with an excuse as to why I missed my appointment and 'making out with my girlfriend' won't really cut it with my parents."

Tina laughed, "Fine, fine. See you tomorrow, then."

...

"Dad, can you sign a permission slip for me tomorrow if you have time?" Mike piped up during dinner that night.

His dad raised an eyebrow, "What for?"

"It's for a musical that we're putting on," Mike explained. "Our principal just needs parental consent in order for us to be able to put it on." He did his best to avoid telling his parents about the rather risqué material in the show.

"Sure," his dad shrugged. "When I get back from work tomorrow."

...

They were in their living room after school the next day- he was sitting on the couch and Tina was standing in the middle, singing the first verse of _Sweet Transvestite_ for Mike to hear. She was wearing a sweatshirt of his that he vaguely remembered lending to her on a particularly nippy fall day a couple weeks ago. How did she make his _hoodie_ look hot, for god's sake?

_How d'you do, I see you've met my faithful handyman_  
_He's just a little brought down because when you knocked_  
_He thought you were the candyman._  
_Don't get strung out by the way that I look,_  
_Don't judge a book by its cover_  
_I'm not much of a man by the light of day,_  
_But by night I'm one hell of a lover_

Mike cocked an eyebrow, "I'd say by day you're one hell of a lover, too."

"Mikeee," she rolled her eyes. "Were you even listening to the notes?"

"Of course I was!" Mike insisted. She knew he was watching her. She knew he was paying more attention to _her_ than the song. "I just wanted to make a very necessary comment."

She was shaking her head at him as if he was some misbehaving toddler but suddenly, the next thing he knew, she was pinning him down on the couch and pressing her lips by his ear. "Is _this _what you want, then, Mike Chang?

Speechless, he stammered, "W-well, yeah, kinda." _Damn_, what was she doing? Whatever crazy thing she had on our mind... he wasn't really sure if he minded. She was, at this point, pressing her torso to his as she sucked on the tenderest spot on his neck.

"_Tina_."

"Hmm?" She was _so_ enjoying this, knowing what she was doing to him and knowing how _easy_ it was to just completely win him over like that. Sometimes he felt so weak, not being able to resist every tiny little thing that she did but most of the time he just really didn't give a damn because it was _Tina_ and who the hell _cared_? She had her hands in his hair and all he could think of was touching every inch of her that he could reach and-

That sound. Tires crunching on the driveway. It was unmistakable.

Tina jumped off of him in a matter of seconds and they both straightened their clothing as quickly as humanly possible and pulled innocent expressions on their face when they heard the front door slam shut. Mike's dad entered from the hallway into the room and his eyebrows flew up to his forehead.

"Uh- Dad. Hi. Sorry, we were just rehearsing for the musical and we-"

"Were you?" his dad said coolly, raising an eyebrow. "Well, maybe it's time for Tina to go home."

Tina nodded slowly. Her cheeks were flaming red and Mike's heart sank when Tina cast him a very frightened look. "I'll send her home," Mike said grudgingly.

"And you can forget about that permission slip," Mike's dad called out to him as they hurried out the front door.

_Shit_.

...

"It's okay, Mike. Mr. Schue's not mad or anything," Tina said reassuringly the next day as they were sitting in the cafeteria together. She felt bad for him. He was getting really bent out of shape ever since he had to tell Mr. Schuester earlier that day that he couldn't be Frank N. Furter for the musical.

"I guess," Mike grumbled. "I just feel bad, you know? Letting the club down and all."

"I think we have bigger worries," Tina bit her lip.

"What?"

"Your dad? He's never gonna want to see my face again."

Mike sighed, "That won't be a problem. I'll talk to him, we'll figure something out."

"You sure?" Tina frowned.

"Of course I'm sure."

...

It wasn't quite that easy, however. Mike spent the entire afternoon waiting for his dad to get home and coming up with a game plan for what to tell his dad. Ever since he had found Tina and Mike in the living room that one afternoon, his dad had been very cold and aloof. Mike's English homework lay before him on his desk, completely unfinished, and his fingers were tapping restlessly. As soon as he heard the garage door open, he bolted up.

Sprinting down the stairs, he nearly ran into his dad as he skidded to a stop. "Dad."

"Quite a greeting," his dad said, amused. "What is it?"

"Dad, sit down," Mike urged, pointing to the couch.

"All right. Not used to getting ordered around by my own son, but all right."

His dad's sarcasm really got to him sometimes. "Look, Dad. I'm sorry Tina was at our house the other day without your permission. We really were rehearsing for the musical. But since you didn't sign the permission slip, I can't play the part anymore. I know what I did was wrong. I should have asked to bring her over."

"Mike, you've brought her over so many times, what difference does this one make?"

"I- I- what?"

"No way in hell you baked those oatmeal raisin cookies by yourself the other day. And the chocolate chip ones? I've tasted your cookies before and they're awful. And your mom tells me that Tina likes to bake." He shrugged nonchalantly, "I just put two and two together."

Stunned, Mike rubbed his eyes. "Why- why didn't you say anything before?"

"I was waiting for you to finally decide to tell me the truth."

Damn his dad for being so wise and so freaking annoying. "_Dad_, I really am sorry. But you're always so strict and I never thought you'd want to have Tina over and I really like spending time with her so I was just being stupid when I didn't ask you." He was rambling.

His dad gazed at him with scrutinizing eyes. "Mike, you're a big kid now. I'm not going to follow you around, waiting for you to mess up. I can trust you to make your own decisions only if you decide to keep my trust."

"I will, I _will_," Mike pressed. "Seriously. Just don't make me stop seeing Tina."

"Who ever said anything about ending things with Tina?" his father looked bewildered. "I'm just saying. I don't mind if you bring her here but you really just need to let your mom or me know before you do so."

Relief flooded through him when Mike realized that he was pretty much off the hook. "Okay. Okay, I promise, Dad."

...

Mike: everything's okay :) i told you i could fix it  
Tina: your dad went easy on you, didn't he?  
Mike: what? no! seriously, i was very convincing  
Tina: haha yeah right. he totally went easy on you  
Mike: you don't believe that i can win anyone over with my charm?  
Tina: oh, that's a very different question, mike chang.  
Mike: i'd say i'm a very charming guy :)  
Tina: i'd say you're right :)

...

The hallway was completely deserted. They were leaning against Mike's locker when he brought up something he had heard in the locker room that day.

"Wait. That's hilarious. Picturing _Beiste_ helps...cool you off?"

Mike turned, shrugging. "That's what Sam said."

"Hmm, well, then let's get a room," Tina whispered, proceeding to drag him after her into an empty classroom. Her eagerness made him laugh, but he followed her all too willingly. She looked up at the ceiling, where paper stars hung and pictures of solar systems surrounded them. "It's like we're making out under the stars," she said coyly.

"Mmm," was all Mike could manage as her lips met his and his breath caught when she lifted up his thin t-shirt and he could feel her soft hands on his skin.

Tina licked her bottom lip, "Mmm with those abs you could be my very own situ-asian," she teased.

He laughed at the Jersey Shore reference, since he knew both of them hated that show. She dragged him down after her as they spread out on the table until he was straddling her and their arms were locked together and her lips were just reaching every inch of his neck, face...

"Mmf, Tina, we can't get caught here. We should probably cool off." Mike whispered despite his very strong desire to continue. The hormonal voice in his head was screaming- _what an idiot! Shut up and enjoy this!_

Tina would have none of it. She pulled him closer so that his face was buried in her neck. She gasped as he sucked gently next to her earlobe. "But I'm so turned on right now..." And suddenly... "...Beiste."

He pulled away from her abruptly. "What did you just say?" his eyes were wide and his heart stopped momentarily.

"_Nothing. _I-I gotta go. I'll see you in glee club." And before he knew it, she was gone.

...

"_Tina_. Tina, wait up!"

After glee when everyone had already cleared out, Tina was making a mad dash for the door and Mike hurried to catch her. She was avoiding him, which was unsurprising, seeing as how she moaned someone else's name while they were making out. No, not just someone else's. Not even another guy's name. _Coach Beiste's_ name.

Tina stopped and turned to face him but it was clear that she did not plan on looking him in the eye.

"T, talk to me," Mike pleaded. "You didn't text me at all last night and you've been avoiding me all day."

She said nothing.

"Look, I'm not mad that you... said... that yesterday. I just want to know why. Was it because I said that it helped cool you off?"

Tina nodded the slightest amount- it was more like a jerk of the head.

"You never needed to cool off before," Mike pointed out.

"Iknobltyivbnwngmrn," Tina literally mumbled absolute nonsense.

"Come again?" Mike laughed.

"I know but lately I've been wanting more and more and when we don't go very far I get really, really...worked up," she said in the softest voice possible- Mike had to strain to hear.

"That's it?" Mike blinked. "You wanted to cool off because every time we make out, we stop short?"

"Y-yeah, kinda."

"T," he couldn't help but start laughing again, "you realize that you just fulfilled every guy's fantasy? Wanting more? If that's the problem, believe me, I'd be very, _very_ happy to oblige."

"Ithtyjstdntwntsemwthclths."

"You really gotta enunciate a little more, love."

"I thought you just didn't want... to see me without clothes on or something and-"

"Why would you _ever_ think that?"

"Well, I'm not like you," Tina bit her lip. "You're an athlete who can be confident in your own body-"

"_Tina_. You, more so than anyone out of the entire _universe_, deserves to feel confident in your body. You are sexy and beautiful and just _incredible,_" Mike growled. "And don't you forget it."

A hint of a smile. Progress. "Really?"

"Really really," Mike smiled, swooping in to give her a quick kiss, "And now that I know you're okay with this whole no-clothes-thing..." He winked suggestively as they walked out of the choir room.

The sound of her giggling comforted him- reminded him that things between them were okay again.


	13. Chapter 13

Tina: we're pairing up for kurt's dad's wedding  
Mike: what?  
Tina: we're singing marry you and you're my partner!  
Mike: seriously?  
Tina: yeah, and we're both singing this time, y'hear?  
Mike: :( i'm scared

...

"It's not too hard," Tina insisted as they sat alone in the choir room. "Finn and Rachel sing the introduction. Sam and Quinn will sing the next verse, and then Brittany, Artie, Santana, and Puck come in during the bridge. We just introduce the chorus before everyone else comes in- it'll be super easy, I promise."

He looked so nervous, "Fine. Teach me the harmony part again?"

_Cuz it's a beautiful night,_  
_we're looking for something dumb to do_  
_Hey baby,_  
_I think I wanna marry you. _

"That's it?" Mike looked relieved. "And I'm just singing the harmony, right?"

"Yup," Tina smiled. "And you can go crazy with the dancing however you want, okay?"

"Okay!"

He really was like a little kid sometimes. Tina took his hand, "You'll be great. I can't believe we're performing at a wedding. I've always loved weddings, but I've never gone to one before. This one will be my first."

"Really? I went to my aunt's a couple years ago," Mike shrugged. "It was pretty standard."

"They're always so beautiful," Tina breathed. "I don't know. It's probably a girl thing. But there's just something so magical about getting married..."

"What do you want your wedding to be like?" Mike asked sweetly as he sat her down and took a seat behind her, massaging her shoulders.

"Mmm, I don't know. I'd want it to be in the summer. On the lake front. With... with lilies and maybe the reception would be at night with candles everywhere. And... what?" He had suddenly stopped massaging her and she caught him staring at her.

"Nothing," he smiled, continuing the kneading motion with his hands. "You're just cute when you're like this."

"Like what?"

"I don't know... when you're being open and honest. Not that you aren't honest usually! Just when you let your mouth run and I get to hear what you're really thinking deep down inside."

Tina smiled sheepishly, "I guess I just really like weddings. I mean, it's supposed to be the most magical day of your life. It's kind of hard not to dream about it."

"I understand," he said slowly. "Guys don't really think about it as much, but I guess you're right. It's meant to be very important. I hope Ms. Hudson and Mr. Hummel appreciate us performing." He kissed her hair gently.

"I'm sure they will. Can you imagine, though? Being able to know that you'll get to spend the rest of your life with someone you love?" Her mind traveled to an image of her own wedding someday in the future. Did the groom have a face? Was the face Mike? It was just a high school relationship, she kept reminding herself. But sometimes, she felt like she couldn't imagine being with anyone else. _Don't be naive_, she kept thinking. _What if he doesn't feel the same way_?

...

They were watching a movie that night at the local theater. Tina's head had been resting on his chest and they had remained relatively silent while they watched the film. They were only halfway through the movie when Tina leaned over a little more and whispered in his ear, "Did you notice the stairwell when we came in?"

Mike furrowed his brow. "The...the _stairwell_? I- I guess? What about it?"

She suddenly stood up. "I want some popcorn. Can you come with me to get some?"

"I- okay, sure?" Thoroughly confused, Mike stood up as well and followed her as they stepped out of their aisle and toward the exit door. As he moved to open the door, he felt a tug on his sleeve. She had snagged his shirt with her hand to stop him.

"What?" he whispered.

She said nothing. Instead, she pulled him into the corner of the stairwell and pressed him up against the wall and finally he understood as she pressed her lips to his.

"_Right now_?" he whispered, astounded. _Don't question this, you idiot_.

"Now...need," she mumbled in strangled tones. She was running her hands underneath his shirt in a frenzied manner that he couldn't explain but to be honest, he didn't care why. All he knew was that her hands were reaching everywhere and as she finally ran her fingers underneath the waistband of his Calvin Kleins he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe.

"Mmf, _Tina_," he was moaning like a fool, he knew it, but _god_.

He had no idea what was possessing her right now and why she felt a sudden need to be making out with him against a wall in the movie theater but lately, she had been consistently catching him off guard at the most random, unexpected moments and next thing he knew, they'd be on the couch or against a wall or on the floor and once even on his bed- where they sank into his sheets and lay next to each other, their noses touching and their breaths intermingling.

The floor was a little sticky, no doubt from spilled drinks or whatever other crap got on the floor and he was vaguely aware of how gross it was in the movie theater but suddenly Tina's hands were reaching even further down and as she brushed against... well, against him, he realized how little he cared. They could have been making out on a landfill and he probably wouldn't even have noticed.

She was really _really_ going at it, he noticed as her lips found his again and she sucked and sucked and sucked on his lip and it was almost starting to get a little sore but he knew he never wanted her to stop...

He kept an ear open for any sign of the end of the movie but the next twenty or so minutes are just... god, he doesn't even know what. It's mind-blowing.

...

Mike: t, brittany and i have to rehearse our number for sectionals all week :(  
Tina: what? :( does this mean we can't hang out after school?  
Mike: i'm sorry, love :(

...

Dancing was Brittany was actually rather incredible. She was a great dancer and Mike found that their routine worked fluidly. They worked for hours to choreograph every last step. He had to flip her over his back at some points and it scared the hell out of him- what if at sectionals he just dropped her? In front of everyone? In front of _Tina_, who he had never seen mess up a solo. The last thing he wanted to do was fail as a performer in front of her.

After a particularly long rehearsal, Mike stepped out of the choir room, sweat dripping down his neck. As he wiped himself with a towel, he called out to Brittany, "See you later, Brit! Good work today!"

Brittany was still packing up her bag, but she waved goodbye and Mike turned to the door to leave when Tina nearly steamrollered him over.

"Tina! Hi!" He smiled at her.

"Hi!" She puckered her lips for a kiss. "Thought I'd surprise you."

"Oh, T, I'm kind of sweaty, do you really want to kiss me?"

She frowned, "Of course I do." She stood on her tippy-toes and stole a kiss before he had a chance to lean down and kiss her. He smiled but her forehead wrinkled a little as she pulled away.

"Is something wrong, Tina?"

"Nothing," she said slowly. "Nothing."

...

The next day at glee rehearsal, Tina sat next to Brittany, who was swiping lip balm on her lips.

"Hey Brittany, could I borrow that? My lips are so chapped," Tina piped up.

"Did you get your mouth stuck on a popsicle, too?" Brittany asked, wide-eyed.

"Uh, no. Thanks," she smiled sweetly as Brittany handed her the lip balm. She spread it on her own lips and tasted it. _Lipsmackers_. _Watermelon flavored_. Unmistakable.

She stormed home that day and rifled through every corner of her closet before producing an old Halloween costume and laying it out on her bed. If cheerleaders were what Mike Chang wanted, then that's what he was going to get, she thought determinedly.

...

There were _so many_ people in the audience. Was this how Rachel felt every time she sang a solo? Probably not- Rachel was such a diva that she probably didn't even know what stage fright _meant_. His mind was racing- trying to remember every move that he and Brittany had agreed on. Every turn, every flip, every step. There were so many dance moves and all he could imagine was the audience turning him into a laughingstock when he slipped and fell on his shot him a thumbs-up and as the curtain rose and Valerie begun, Mike took the deepest breath he could possibly manage and allowed his muscle memory and the music take control. This was okay. This was okay because once he had begun to dance, there was no such thing as fear anymore. There was just music and dance.

...

"Mike you were amazing!" Rachel nodded her approval after they had finished. Everyone was mingling in the green room after they had finished. Mike had entered a little late, as he had stopped to get a long drink of water after the performance.

"Yeah, totally awesome," Finn agreed.

"Thanks, guys," Mike appreciated the compliments, but his eyes raked the crowd for one person. He only wanted the approval of _one person_.

"Good job," she said softly.

The smile that had been glued to his face for the past hour disappeared. "Is something wrong, T?"

"Lipsmackers."

"I- I'm sorry?" Mike frowned.

"_Lipsmackers_," Tina pressed. "I tasted it. On your lips. After your rehearsal with Brittany!"

"You- you think I've been cheating on you with Brittany?" Mike said incredulously.

"Well, haven't you?" Tina crossed her arms defiantly. Her voice was steely and cold but her eyes were darting around, betraying worry and fear.

"_T,_" he exhaled. "I would never _ever_ cheat on you. After our little movie theater adventure that one night, my lips were insanely chapped so during rehearsal with Brittany, I asked if I could borrow her lip balm. What the hell is Lipsmackers?"

"It's- it's the name of the lip balm. You mean- you mean you didn't kiss her?"

He took her hands gently, "Tina, I would never cheat on you. Why would I want to kiss anyone in the entire _world_ when I have you?"

The look on her face was so _so _priceless. It was relief and happiness and excitement and so much all rolled into one and the panging feeling that had been in his chest when she was accusing him of cheating on her completely disappeared.

"C'mere," Mike said softly, pulling her hand to bring her out of the green room, away from everyone- some of whom were starting to stare at them.

They took a seat on a bench outside the green room. She rested her head on his chest, exhaling deeply.

"I'm so embarrassed," Tina mumbled into his shoulder.

"Don't be," Mike soothed. "You need to trust me. But I _get it_. Look at me," he whispered.

She rested her chin on his shoulder, "What?"

"I love you, Tina Cohen-Chang. Do you know that?"

"I know that."

"I love every last part of you. I love your face, your hair, your body, your smile, your clothes, your laugh...your asian-ness," he grinned.

"Asian-ness?" She folded her arms, defiant. "Is that even a word?"

"It is now," Mike laughed. "There has to be a way to define asians, you know?"

"So you love my asian face, my asian hair, my asian body, my asian smile, my asian clothes, and my asian laugh?" Tina rolled her eyes.

"Sure, if you want to put it that way," his heartbeat picked up again as they hugged and he held her close to him.

...

They walked into glee together the next day.

"You changed your look," Mike said, observing the more familiar-looking burgundy dress lined with black lace.

"Yeah..." Tina said, sighing. "This is more me." She looked up at him with an apologetic look on her face that almost broke his heart. "I'm sorry I doubted you, Mike."

She could have not apologized at all and he still wouldn't have cared. Their little moment after sectionals was still stamped in his brain and he knew that things were okay again with them. "Asian kiss?" He suggested, grinning.

She laughed her sweet laugh, and nodded. "Asian kiss." Their lips locked briefly before they took their seats and, Mike noticed, his head was still spinning from the touch of her lips.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Quick question for you guys. Do you guys dislike how long this fanfic has gotten? I wanted to cover a lot of ground but I'd hate it if I was boring you guys! Let me know in the reviews!**

* * *

One of Tina's favorite parts about hanging out with Mike was when they got to dance- especially at his house, although that didn't happen quite as often anymore due to Mr. Chang's new rule. But when they did get the chance to be at his place, Mike would sometimes turn on his iHome and they would just dance freestyle around the room like a pair of goofballs. Being in a relationship with Mike taught her that freestyle dancing was actually much, much more difficult than it seemed. She was used to being in glee, where Mr. Schuester gave them a series of moves and she would just have to learn to spit it back out, but freestyle dancing was all about just... _moving_ and chasing after the beat because if you stopped, it would leave you behind. She got better and better at it, but at the end of the day, she'd much prefer sitting back on the couch and watching Mike pop, break, wave, or whatever else it was that he could do. It was weird, really, that they each focused on one part of glee club- her on singing and him dancing- and they were both so engrossed by the other's focus.

Sometimes he wouldn't even take his iHome out and he'd ask her to sing something- anything- and they would just dance to that. She liked to sing soft waltzes or ballads, and they would twirl on the Chang's living room floor and he would spin her and dip her and it was incredible. She would always be completely out of breath by the end but there really was _nothing_ like it.

On one particular day, she had just finished singing the last note to their favorite ballad to dance to- _Saving All My Love For You_- when Mike kissed her breathlessly.

"Guess what?" she brought up abruptly.

"What?" his eyes were still glossy- they always did that after they kissed and she loved it- it was like physical proof of the effect she had on him. Physical proof that he wasn't lying when he said that she drove him crazy. That she really was pretty and that he _loved_ her.

"The girls have a surprise for the guys today at glee tomorrow."

"A surprise?" Mike tilted his head in confusion.

"Yep," Tina grinned, pleased with herself. "You just wait."

...

Rachel was standing in front of the entire club, her usual pretentious expression on her face. "We want to join the team."

"We...who?" Artie blinked.

"Us glee girls. We want to join the football team and we want to play in the championship game."

Mike shared the rest of the guys' incredulity. He rolled his eyes. "C'mon guys, stop screwing around. It's not cool."

He saw Tina shoot him an annoyed look. Boy, was he gonna pay for that comment later on.

As Rachel explained their plan to lie flat on the ground- just so that the team would have enough players. It made sense, Mike supposed, but he was very uncomfortable with the idea of Tina being on a field with a bunch of two hundred pound guys running around. _He _couldn't even take it sometimes after getting tackled and he was a _guy_ (boy, would Tina's feminism have cut his arm off if she had heard that thought). Often times he ended up with Tina after a game and she'd massage his shoulders after a particularly rough round of tackling. That couldn't happen to Tina. He wouldn't let it happen to Tina. As he glanced over at her and drank in her determined expression, he buried his face in his hands. This was not going to end well.

...

"So!" They were sitting in the backseat of his car and Tina was kind of sitting on his lap but their legs were tangled and hanging over the edge. It was getting darker but they were still in Tina's driveway because she hadn't wanted him to leave and frankly, he didn't want to leave either. "What do you think? Isn't this exciting?"

Mike could not think of a worse adjective to describe the situation. _Exciting_? Not exciting. This was horrifying. This made his heart stop beating. "_No_, Tina. You know how much it hurts to get tackled? And even if you're lying on the ground... what if...what if someone tramples you by accident? What if they just completely truck you and you get hurt? I couldn't ever forgive myself for letting you get on the field if anything bad happened."

"Mike," Tina shook her head. "I'm not going to get hurt. It'll be okay. I want to help you guys win this championship game!"

"T..."

"Mikeeeee," Tina was laughing by now. "It'll be okay. Seriously!"

...

But it wasn't okay. Halfway through the game and Tina had insisted on playing. It took all his energy to convince her not to, but there was an unmistakable gleam in her eye after the huddle broke. An unmistakable gleam that he knew all too well- one that signaled that she was going to do things her way because that's just how she handled things. She was independent, that much was clear- she had taken charge so many times over the summer and shot Anne's ideas down because she had wanted to do things _her_ way. And the next thing he knew, in a flash of colors and movements that were all muddled in his brain, the football was on the ground and no one was getting it and Tina was _running_. _Tina had the ball_. _Shit_. He watched, panicked, as she continued to run and then. And then his world came crashing down because she had been tackled straight to the ground. _Oh my god. Oh my god oh my god oh my god_.

He had never run so fast in his life. Swear to god, he could feel his feet touch off the ground- he must have been flying by the point he got to her. In a manner of seconds, he was crouched by her side- beating out even the athletic trainers who had admittedly been making quite the dash, too.

"_Tina_," he breathed. "Is she breathing?" He asked the trainers.

The moment lasted forever. _Forever_. The trainer was flashing a light in her eyes and _god _why wouldn't her eyes open?

Then, finally. Finally, she croaked, "Did we win?"

Her voice echoed in his ears and suddenly, the light turned green in his head and relief washed over him. She was okay she was okay...she was _okay_. He gave her a weak smile as he helped her up. She stumbled a little, but fell in his arms and he held her close, close so that no one could hurt her again because he could never _ever_ see that happen again.

"I'm so proud of you," he whispered in her ear.

...

"You think I'm ready for my letterman jacket?" Tina asked, grinning at him as they trekked to his car. She had taken off all the padding and protective gear and was wearing just the jersey over a tank top. It was huge on her but also surprisingly comfortable. She looked up at Mike. She knew that she was pushing all of his buttons each time she brought up the game.

"You can wear mine," Mike smiled, but it was a tight smile.

"Hey," she said softly, tugging at his jersey. "Hey, I'm okay. You know that, right? I'm _fine_."

"I know," he said, his voice straining. "But T, you don't know how scared I was."

She smiled softly at how much he just always _cared_. "I know. But it's over. It's over and I'm okay. And I'm so glad you guys won. Our little diversion tactic was pretty cool, hm?"

He laughed, "It was definitely something special. Like you," he touched her nose with his finger.

"You're so corny," she wrinkled her nose.

"You love it."

"Maybe," she grinned, leaning in for a kiss.

He returned it immediately, but his mouth traveled to her ear and whispered, "You look kind of hot in a jersey."

"Mmm really?" He had pushed her up against his car and the cold metal made her shiver.

"Very. Very. Hot."

"That's what I like to hear," she mumbled. "C'mon." She swung open the car door to the backseat and gave him a little push. They scrambled into the backseat and she used one finger on his chest to push him to lie down on the seat.

"_This_ is what _I _like," he gave her a crooked smile and she licked her bottom lip in anticipation as she shut the car door behind them, closing them in away from everyone else. Closing them in for some time alone because sometimes that's just what she _craved_.

* * *

**A/N: Short chapter! :) But next chapter will be Silly Love Songs and then that will be it for following the actual episodes. I'll tie it off in my own little way. :) Hope you guys enjoyed and don't forget to review!**


	15. Chapter 15

"Valentine's Day is coming up! So for today's lesson. I want you guys to pick a partner. Because you're gonna sing to them what _you _think is the world's greatest love song. Yeah! Find a song that communicates all the things that love means to you."

Tina grinned, pointing her finger directly at Mike, mouthing the word, "You."

"Me?" He mouthed back, pointing to himself.

"You're what love means to me," she whispered in his ear.

That was it. He had to do the perfect song for Tina for this Valentine's Day project.

...

Mike: it's my turn to have a surprise for you :)  
Tina: oh? i don't like surprises- it means waiting!  
Mike: you won't have to wait long, love  
Tina: waiting makes me sad. don't make me cry :(  
Mike: i won't! why would i make you cry?  
Tina: i don't know :)

...

"Artie, wait up!" He had tracked down Artie after his English class- it wasn't that difficult, he was the only guy in a wheelchair in the entire school.

"What's up?" Artie turned around to face him. Ever since he had started going out with Brittany, he had been much, _much_ more civil to Mike, and Mike thought to use that to his advantage.

"I was thinking...You rocked Thriller a while back and I was wondering if you'd be willing to pair up with me and do another MJ song for the Valentine's Day project. You could sing and I'll dance."

Artie gave him a small smile, "Sure, what song?"

"P.Y.T." Mike grinned. Because that's what Tina _was_. So very pretty and he had to admit, dancing to Michael Jackson was pretty much one of his favorite things to do when it came to dancing.

"Sounds good," Artie held up his fist, presumably for a fist bump. "Let's rehearse this week."

Mike returned the fist bump a little bit uncertainly, "Yeah, definitely."

...

Rehearsal with Artie wasn't as awkward as he had imagined it would be. They mentioned their girlfriends with ease, and they picked dance moves with hardly a single dispute. They coordinated the moves so that Artie could do some of them from his wheelchair and Mike had to admit- it looked pretty sweet when they got the rhythm right. He was starting to get excited for the performance and he couldn't help but feel a little silly but that was okay because he wanted so badly to be able to perform this for her.

...

Mike: today's the day!  
Tina: miiike! for what?  
Mike: you'll see :)  
Tina: i'm crying over hereee ;)  
Mike: don't cryyy! 

...

P.Y.T. was definitely a huge success, Mike concluded. He had kept his eyes fixed on Tina the entire time and she was laughing and laughing and _definitely _loving it. As he swung his arms, his legs, every limb on his body to the music- even throwing in a pelvic thrust for good measure- he would beam at her and occasionally throw her a quick wink. Toward the end, he took her hand and pulled her up to join him in dancing. And as Artie's (admittedly very fitting Michael Jackson) voice wound down the song, they embraced and he pulled away, looking at her expectantly. _Did she like it? Was it good enough? Was it not good enough?_

"I'm so in love I may just start crying," she winked at him and he couldn't help but laugh. He pursed his lips, wanting a kiss from her so so so badly...

...

Mike had planned out their Valentine's Day rather elaborately. Thank god it wasn't a school night, he thought to himself as he made sure that he could leave and get back before it got too dark and he'd have several angry asian parents on his back. He asked both his and Tina's parents for their permission to drive Tina out to the camp they had stayed at over the summer. He packed a picnic- grilled cheese sandwiches, of course, but also lots of finger food for them to share. And he hauled several blankets into his car, since it was still pretty chilly out and everything. He hid everything in the trunk and swung by Tina's house at around five.

She had dressed up for the date, he noticed. She was wearing a deep scarlet dress, a v-neck one (god, she knew what v-necks did to him) that stopped right above the knee and a heavy but very adorable black winter coat that was lined with fur. And she had on those _heels_ again. He bit his lip, not knowing whether he would be able to drive them out for a whole hour without wanting to rip that dress off of her.

"Hi," she said cheerfully. "Where are you going? You're being so secretive lately."

"It's still a secret," he smiled as she got into the car. He started driving- it would probably take an hour to get to the camp and they didn't have too much time before the sun would be setting.

The car ride was definitely long- Tina had stopped pestering him about where they were going about halfway through and they instead chose to start singing goofy songs together at the top of their lungs. He hoped to god that it didn't distract him from his driving but he was having so much _fun_.

She didn't even notice when they arrived, as she was still breathless from the last song she had belted out. "We're here," he said softly.

She immediately pressed her nose up against the window and he heard her gasp and that was so _so_ worth it. "_Mike._"

"Welcome back," he smiled, already out of the car and opening his trunk. He pulled out the blankets and the big picnic basket that he had stolen from his mom.

"It's so pretty here in the winter," she whispered. She was absolutely right. The snow wasn't too bad- only on the trees a little and in small patches along the sides of the paths. But the sky was a conglomerate of every color imaginable and even though clouds fogged up the sky, it was still beautiful.

"It is, isn't it?" Mike laughed. "But it's gonna be cold, love. Sorry about that. I brought blankets, though." They trudged out to the lake and he set up a blanket on the slightly damp grass for them to sit on. Wrinkling his nose a little at the thought of how mad his mom was going to be when he came home with a soggy blanket, he bit his lip. Oh well. He had to do the laundry half the time, anyway.

The lake wasn't frozen anymore, but he could only imagine how cold the water must have been. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around the two of them as they sat down. They got a little tangled at first, but eventually they were flush up against each other surrounded by the warm down comforter. Turning to Tina, he grinned. "You hungry?" He opened up the basket and handed her a sandwich wrapped in saran wrap.

"Grilled cheese sandwiches," she laughed. "Of course. Best dinner ever."

"Hope you're not being sarcastic," he shot back with a wink. "And I brought water, too, in case you're thirsty. But before you eat!"

She was just about to take a bite but put the sandwich down when he stopped her.

"I- I just wanted to say that I love you, T. A lot."

Her mouth unfurled into a gorgeous, gorgeous smile. "I love you, too, Mike. Thanks for doing this," she gestured to the picnic basket. "It must have taken a lot of work and I _love_ it."

"I remembered how much you said you missed being out here alone, so I figured what better Valentine's day present?" he shrugged as if it were no big deal but secretly he was quite proud of himself.

"Well I love it," she leaned over and kissed him and suddenly he wasn't so cold anymore and the sandwiches were completely forgotten.

Until he heard her stomach rumble. Cracking up, he handed her the sandwich again. "Here, eat up." He looked out onto the lake and frowned. "I wanted to watch the sunset with you but I forgot that it doesn't set on the lake."

"Yeah, remember? It sets behind those trees over there," she pointed to the forest and laughed. "There goes your cliché moment."

"Hey," he pouted. "Don't make fun of me. I thought it would have been romantic."

She pinched his nose playfully, "It would have been. Really. But I love this moment the way it is, silly. We don't need a sunset to get it right."

"All right," he relented, leaning in for another kiss. "We can't stay too long, though," he warned. "I promised your parents that I'd bring you back before ten. And I still want to bring you to your frozen yogurt place before it closes-"

"We don't have to get frozen yogurt," she smiled. "Let's stay here for a while. I love it here." _She loved it_. She loved it and that meant his whole Valentine's Day plan had gone perfectly and something in his mind was just completely throwing a party because everything had gone _perfectly_ for his girl on Valentine's Day.

"Okay."

And she wormed her way in between his legs and snuggled up against his chest and they just stayed there- alone at the one place where memories would always exist for them.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mike."

"Happy Valentine's Day, T. I love you."

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was pretty short, too! Anyway, a couple of notes. I cut out the My Funny Valentine part because even though I love her singing, it was just a very weirdly written scene and I didn't like it very much at all. And I _adored_ P.Y.T. so I _had_ to include that. Lots of fluff here today but it was fun to write. :) Hope you guys enjoyed and get ready for some new material coming soon!**


	16. Chapter 16

Regionals was approaching with the same amount of steam as an oncoming train and the glee club was starting to really flip out. Rachel was a mess lately, her hair always in knots and tangles and her eyes heavy from not sleeping. She had announced to the club that she had been staying up every night scouring the internet for the perfect song to sing at regionals. Even Mr. Schuester, who had always tried to stay upbeat and positive about competitions, was starting to freak out a little. The other day during Spanish, he had passed back their quizzes and everyone had received A+s even though no one had understood the lesson. Glee rehearsals suddenly got much more exhausting, and people were starting to get more and more irritable. Santana had shoved Rachel into the wall after a particularly arduous rehearsal for no reason at all.

As the days went on, Mike was starting to formulate an idea in his head. It was crazy, he reasoned, and there was no way he could guarantee that Mr. Schue would be okay with it. But the more and more he thought about it, the more he just wanted to ask...just in case. It was worth a shot, wasn't it?

But first he had to make sure that he could hold up his part in order for this whole crazy ordeal to work out. He spent hours in his room practicing. He had been able to do background vocals for a while now, but for this to work... it would require a lot more. His parents were starting to get kind of suspicious- especially when it got pretty late at night and he was still practicing.

"Why aren't you sleeping, Mike?" his mother asked one night, bewildered. "And what are you _doing_?"

"I'm just practicing, mom. I'll go to bed in half an hour," he assured her, and she would close his bedroom door and he would stay up another two hours despite what he had promised her. He would play the same Youtube video over and over and over and listen so closely that it felt like his ear was splitting open. And then he would practice. Practice until he got every last detail right.

When he finally felt that maybe, just _maybe_ he might have gotten it right, he approached Mr. Schue the next morning.

"Mr. Schuester, could I ask something?" Mike said hesitantly.

Mr. Schue did _not_ look well rested in any sense. His hands were holding tight onto a cup of coffee and his eyes were bloodshot. "What is it, Mike?"

"I... I was wondering," he cleared his throat and continued more confidently. "I was wondering if maybe Tina and I could do a ballad for regionals."

"Like a solo ballad?"

"No..." Mike had a feeling it was going to come to this. He wasn't in glee club to sing...everyone knew that. "I was wondering if we could do a duet ballad."

"A... a duet?" Mr. Schuester looked completely confused. "You...you and Tina?"

"Yeah," Mike said softly. "I've been working really hard on it, you know, to compensate since Tina's way more talented than I am. But I'm going to present the idea to her today...if you allow it."

Mr. Schuester ran his fingers through his curly hair, clearly frazzled. "I guess. How about you two perform it for the rest of the kids in a couple of days and we'll see how it goes. We're starting to get desperate. Er- wait, not that you two are a last resort. I'm just saying that everyone's freaking out and-"

"I get it, Mr. Schue. I just think that maybe...maybe our whole glee club has a lot of talent and everyone at regionals has a lot of talent. Maybe what we need is a _voice_. And...and emotions. And I think that's something Tina and I can try to provide."

"Be my guest, Mike."

...

"A _duet_?" Tina was surprised. Why wouldn't she be?

"Yeah," he said, kind of embarrassed. The whole idea had seemed okay before. But now that he was saying it in front of Tina, it seemed sort of silly.

"Wow, Mike!" She looked happy. That was a good sign, right? Was he sweating? "What song were you thinking?"

"A ballad," he choked on his own voice. Great, wonderful omen. "_Just You and I_."

"I _love_ that song," Tina gushed. "Do you want to try it?"

He nodded, unable to speak. He pushed play on his iPod, where he had downloaded the karaoke version of the song, and plugged it into his iHome. The instrumentals had, by that point, been so ingrained into his memory that he could probably sing those, too. _Don't mess this up. Don't mess this up._

_Just you and I,_  
_ Sharing our love together._  
_ And I know in time,_  
_ We'll build the dreams we treasure._  
_ We'll be all right, just you and I._  
_And I remember our first embrace,_  
_ That smile that was on your face,_  
_ The promises that we made._  
_ And now, your love is my reward,_  
_ And I love you even more,_  
_ Than I ever did before._

She was staring at him. Probably the same way that he was staring at her because as he sang each word that he had implanted into his brain, all he could think about was _her_. About how perfect this song was for them and how it described how he felt so well.

_ Just you and I (Just you and I)_  
_ We can entrust each other,_  
_ With you in my life, (With you in my life,)_  
_ They'll never be another._

_ We'll be all right,_  
_ Just you and I._

The music faded and she said nothing. _Oh my god. She didn't like it. She hated it. She's going to laugh at me for even suggesting such a ridiculous thing_.

"_Mike_," she whispered. Her eyes were doing the thing where he knew that if he covered her mouth, he could still tell she was smiling. "Mike, that was so _great_."

"How great?" he asked slowly.

She blinked. "Well, it's pretty incredible. You're a great singer- I don't know why you were so scared for the duets competition."

"I had to practice a lot," he said quietly, then looked back into her eyes. "So it's incredible? How would you feel...about trying to do it for regionals?"

This time she had no words. Absolutely none. _This_. This was the horrible idea that she was going to laugh at. Oh god.

"For regionals?" She had on a poker face because for once he couldn't read her, read what she was thinking.

"Yeah. Mr. Schue said he'd let us try it for the club tomorrow to see what they think."

"You've talked to Mr. Schue already?"

"Well...yeah. I had to make sure he was okay with this."

"You put a lot of thought into this."

"You have no idea," Mike gave her a weak smile.

She said nothing. But a grin slowly spread on her face and he could breathe easily again.

"Let's do it," she declared.

...

Mike: so nervous :( :( :(  
Tina: you're going to be incredible  
Mike: :/

...

"Mike has prepared something for you guys today. Mike and Tina, actually," Mr. Schuester announced to the class. "A ballad that we might be able to use at regionals."

"You can't really dance to a ballad," Finn wrinkled his nose.

Mike opened his mouth to retort but Tina saved him.

"Actually, we're both going to be singing," Tina smiled.

At first, it was complete and utter silence. And then it was just a storm of sounds and complaints and god knows what else.

"_What_? _They_ can't do the ballad for regionals!" Rachel stood up, stomping her foot on the ground.

"Why not?" Tina snapped. "Just because _you_ think you're doing it? You _always_ think you're the star, Rachel. Just let us perform this for you and if _the whole club_ doesn't like it, then fine. Just _listen_ for once."

That shut Rachel up. "Fine." Rachel sniffed, taking a seat and crossing her legs.

Mike turned to the pianist and nodded to signal that they were ready. The notes flooded his brain and suddenly he realized that muscle memory wasn't just for dancing. It applied to singing, too. Because he had been so afraid that he'd mess up his lyrics or sing the wrong note at the wrong time but everything came naturally.

As he and Tina traded parts in melodies and harmonies, they also performed their simple choreography- which mostly included spinning slowly with their eyes locked. Once in a while, Tina would hit a beautiful, _beautiful_ high note and she would squeeze her eyes shut and her hands would be in front of her and all he could do was watch her, entranced.

He had prepared in advance to imagine everyone in their underwear in order to avoid stage fright, but to his surprise, he didn't even end up needing it because there was no audience to him. To him, it was just Tina. Each word he sang was for her and each second he had practiced was for her and that's all that mattered.

As the song wound down and their hands were linked, he couldn't help it- who cares if people weren't okay with PDA- he leaned down and kissed her as deeply as he could because _god_ he loved her. Loved her for not laughing at his idea, loved her for every moment they had ever spent together, loved her for wanting to be with him, loved her because she was _Tina_.

They broke away from each other before it turned PG-13 and faced the rest of the glee club, their hands still intertwined.

"Well?" Mike asked, almost afraid to do so.

He could practically hear the crickets chirping. No one had anything to say.

Then.

"You guys are so in love it makes me sick," Mercedes grinned. "But I have to say. You killed it. Absolutely. I had no idea you could sing, Mike." She stood up and started to applaud and the rest of them joined in clapping. Just to be polite, maybe?

"Well, I agree," Mr. Schue announced. "That was incredible. You guys just blew me away. What do the rest of you guys think?"

"It was gorgeous," Quinn said in her usual quiet voice. "I think they should do it. It'd be a nice change in pace and how could the judges not fall in love with them?"

"Yeah," Finn nodded. "You always say it's about emotion, right Mr. Schue? They obviously have a lot of it."

Most of the glee club murmured their agreement and Mike felt his entire body just swell up with a sense of achievement. But there was still one more verdict.

"Rachel?" Mr. Schue said hesitantly, as if almost afraid to hear what Rachel had to say.

"I suppose you guys want to hear me throw a tantrum," Rachel started slowly. "I already did that one too many times. If you guys want to hear them sing it at regionals, then so be it. But... only if I get a solo in another song."

Of course. They could only compromise so much. But that was a huge blessing in Rachel's case.

"Well, then!" Mr. Schue beamed. "Looks like we have a number for regionals!"

Mike was starting to feel giddy with excitement and happiness and success and so many other things and he looked down at Tina who was watching him carefully with a huge smile on her face. She allowed this to happen. _She_ was the reason why it was such a success.

* * *

**A/N: Okay so I feel like I have to address a couple of things. First of all, some of you are probably baffled by the idea of Mike singing but I heard the actor who plays him sing and he's actually pretty good! :) It may be a tad far-fetched but I love the idea of them being able to finally _really_ sing together.**

**Let me know what you all thought about this chapter! **

**Oh, one last thing. There will only be one or two chapters left after this one, but I'm already starting to write another Mike/Tina fic so if you guys aren't tired of me yet, stay tuned! :)  
**


	17. Chapter 17

Mike felt like as regionals got closer and closer, some kind of monster was knotting itself up more and more in his stomach. What if his ridiculous idea cost them regionals? What if the entire glee club blamed it on _him_ because if they had just let Rachel sing the ballad, they'd have been much safer?

He found that he was continuously asking Tina to rehearse with him so that they could get it absolutely perfect. She would agree most times, but after a certain point, she started laughing.

"_Mike_, it's going to be okay. This duet is _really_ good, okay? We don't need to overwork it or anything. Trust me, we'll be fine."

"Maybe... maybe you should just sing the melody the whole way through and I can do the harmony part or something," Mike bit his lip.

"Don't be ridiculous! Your melody is my favorite part of the whole number!" Tina insisted. "If we cut it, I'm going to be so upset."

He narrowed his eyes. "You played the emotion card."

"What emotion card?"

He frowned, hugging her. "I can't do things that make you upset. Cheap shot."

She threw back her head and laughed. "You're crazy, Mike. Come on. We don't have to rehearse today. I have a better idea." It was that look in her eyes that told him that in a matter of minutes, they would be on the floor rolling around and definitely _not_ singing...

...

The bus ride to regionals felt like it had lasted forever. Tina had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and he had kind of depended on her to soothe him the whole way there so he chose instead to look out the window while everyone else chatted cheerfully, not realizing how much his nerves were absolutely _destroying _him at the moment.

When they had arrived, Tina had awoken with a jolt.

"Nice of you to join us," he smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Mmm we there yet?"

"Yeah, we just got here. C'mon, let's get off the bus."

The green room was tense. He knew, he just _knew_ that people weren't expecting much from him. That they were all expecting Tina to pull through for him and salvage what was left of the song. His competitive side itched to prove them all wrong, but he wasn't quite sure if he was even physically capable of doing so.

"We're on first," Mr. Schuester announced, the program in his hands. "So get into your costumes and meet me backstage in fifteen minutes. Got it?"

They all nodded and he saw Rachel glance at him, her face betraying uncertainty on every level possible. His stomach was doing back flips more complicated than any he had ever managed as a dancer as he changed into his pale green button-down shirt and black tie. Tina was wearing a matching dress, and holy _shit_ she looked good in it. He was seeing it for the first time and he kept wanting to rub his eyes again and again just so he could see straight. It was strapless and was held at the waist with a black satin bow and the bottom was tight against her skin except for a series of ruffles at the very bottom. How the_ hell_ was he supposed to concentrate on singing while she was wearing that? He had gotten so accustomed to seeing in her dark hues- blacks and burgundies and deep purples- that her wearing a pastel color was so _foreign_ but in the sexiest way possible.

"You ready, big guy?" she grinned at him as they made their way backstage.

He completely ignored her. "_T_. You look _incredible._"

She burst out in laughter. "_That's_ not going to win us regionals."

Regionals. Right. That's why they were there. And he was going to try his absolute best to win it for the glee club, which had become so important to him in the past year or so, for Mr. Schuester, who worked his ass off to get them here, and for Tina, who deserved it so _so_ much.

"_Lights and sound check complete, stage crew ready. Cue curtain in 10 seconds._"

Oh my god.

"Good luck," Tina mouthed and suddenly everything was happening too quickly. Suddenly, there was no more time to run the lyrics in his head, run the motions through his head, run the music through his head because suddenly the instrumentals swelled and the crowd grew silent and the curtains parted and _oh my god_.

This was nothing like sectionals. During sectionals, he had let his body take over because his body knew best when it came to dancing. But this time, it didn't depend on his body. This time, it depended on every moment he had used to prepare for _this_ moment.

He had never heard the audience so quiet before. As Tina's voice filled the auditorium, he took the deepest breath humanly possible and joined in. He had been quite frightened, originally, that he would let the audience get to his head but quite honestly, he could feel the heat of the spotlight, feel the warmth in his own cheeks, but he couldn't see the audience at all. Even when he and Tina turned on an axis, their hands around each other's waists, he couldn't see the audience. It was as if they were in a movie and the backdrop had completely faded to black. It was just Tina. And that's exactly how he liked it.

He had one particular vocalization in the middle of the song that he was scared out of his own pants for, but it had shocked him when he had realized that he had already sung it, as if a momentary lapse of memory had sauntered into the auditorium. He could vaguely hear the background vocals that the rest of the club was singing, but the biggest voice in his head was Tina. _Tina_.

The song wound down gently. Poignantly. And, just as they had planned, Mike dipped Tina down just as he had did during their tap number a year ago. Their faces were so close, her familiar breath was on his cheeks, her long eyelashes were fluttering close to his forehead and they held their pose there for what seemed like forever.

The audience exploded in cheers. Hooting, whistling, and god knows what else. As Mike brought Tina up slowly, he kissed her forehead, then her lips briefly, and they embraced for a moment before breaking apart and bowing before the audience. Mike could feel his heart pounding out of his ribcage but it was _over_ and he didn't screw up and he had no idea whether or not it was good enough for the judges but, as he turned to see Tina's beautiful, exuberant expression, he realized that he didn't honestly even care that much.

...

Their group number was a piece of cake compared to the ballad. Mike was simply supposed to sing a couple of background vocals and then do a quick solo dance bit during the bridge and it was so _easy_ compared to singing a duet. The song they had picked was insanely upbeat, which got the crowd going. That was a good sign, right?

It was over before they knew it and as they took their group bow together, he could hear each individual member breathing deeply, breathing hard because they _had _to win. They just had to.

...

Aural Intensity and Dalton Academy were good. No, they weren't just good. They were really rather incredible. It still boggled Tina's mind how Sue became the coach for Aural Intensity but it was probably one of her screwy schemes that always ended up becoming a bust. As the New Directions took their place on the stage in between the other two schools in order to wait for the results, Tina jumped when she felt Mike's hand wrap around hers.

She looked up at him and mouthed, "I love you."

"Me, too," he mouthed back and squeezed his hand tighter around hers.

"Third place today goes to Aural Intensity!" the announcer called out and the audience applauded. Tina saw out of the corner of her eye Sue beginning to throw a fit. She accepted the small trophy and proceeded to toss it off the stage, narrowly missing someone in the third row.

"Second place- New Directions!"

There were two parts in Tina's brain and heart at that very moment. One part of her was sinking. Sinking deep, deep down because first place had escaped their fingertips for the second year running. Sinking because they wouldn't move on to nationals and that meant _no New York City_.

But the other part of her was shooting upward at full speed because they had _placed_ at regionals and that had been Principal Figgins' deal. As long as they placed at regionals- won first or second place- they could keep the glee club. They could keep performing and they had their senior year to try again for nationals.

She surveyed the rest of her club as Mr. Schuester went up to accept the trophy. Most of them were smiling- even Rachel, though admittedly her eyebrows were furrowed in a way that did not indicate happiness of any kind.

The announcer handed the first place trophy to Dalton and she, Rachel and a couple of the kids rushed over to congratulate Kurt, since it was the right thing to do.

And then she turned to Mike.

"We did it," she half-shouted over the applause.

"I wanted to win for you. For us," he said, his eyes big and sad and it made her want to cry just looking at them.

Tina took his other hand in hers and stood on her tippy-toes before planting a huge kiss on his mouth. "You did win for us, Mike. You were amazing." She pulled him backstage behind the dark curtains.

His expression was still pained. "We didn't win first place."

"I think you deserved first place tonight," she declared truthfully. "You worked so hard, Mike. I can't even begin to understand how hard you worked."

"Not hard enough."

"You worked the perfect amount," Tina insisted. "How did you even do it?"

He repeated the same thing he had said earlier. "I wanted to win for you."

Tina couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with a sense of pride. Because the fact was, he had spent god knows who many hours preparing this duet that was so important to him. She placed one hand on his chest. "You are the most incredible boyfriend ever."

"Only for the most incredible girlfriend ever."

And now and from then on, Tina knew she could always believe him when he said those words to her.

* * *

**A/N: And... that's a wrap. :) Hope you guys enjoyed it and keep a look out for more stories. Thinking about writing a sequel to this one about senior year that may or may not include a bit more drama and a lot more Tina/Mike goodness. :) **

**Or just a couple of drabbles and short stories. :) What do you all say?  
**


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